The Chaos Trilogy 1: The Insane Smiles
by Dark Marx Soul
Summary: Follow this tale through the eyes of Fawful and Dimentio, two of the Mario Brothers' most heinous nemeses back from the dead, as they plot for the ultimate vengeance together...and as a darker, more sinister plot unfolds in the shadows.
1. Chapter 1: Revival

_**The Chaos Trilogy ~A Super Mario Fanfic~**_

_**Part 1: The Insane Smiles**_

Chapter 1: Revival

Fawful

The Underwhere. It was a bleak place, shunned by light of any kind. It was a dark, desolate cave. The rocky floor was as rough and uncomfortable as the place felt, and damp with water droplets, which constantly gathered on the rugged stalactites and stalagmites that littered the ceiling and ground. Odd formations could be seen in the walls, like odd squares.

Fawful absolutely _hated_ the Underwhere.

The little bean boy, wrapped in his torn, red cloak, fastened together by two golden buttons, hated everything about it. He hated the depressing rock walls, the stalagmites which he constantly tripped over every day. He hated the cracked, stone fountain near the hub of the Underwhere, which spewed never-ending gallons of a strange orange liquid, which healed all wounds and ailments when soaked in. He especially hated the Shaydes. They were odd, slug-like beings made of shadows, their eyes and mouths only lighter, shadowy depressions in their faces. They were all far too cheerful for Fawful's liking. They spent every day wallowing in this filthy, desolate pit, chatting with each other about dismal things. Fawful had a deep frown on his face. He grunted; he didn't see that there was anything about the Underwhere to be happy about. It was a place of sorrow and suffering, where the wind never blew: it was the land of the dead.

Fawful sat on the banks of the River Twygz, the eerie, pink liquid giving off a soft glow. Fawful looked down into its depths, his distorted reflection staring back at him. He pushed his large, round glasses back to the bridge of his nose, the spirals on them adding to Fawful's all-around insane appearance. Insane. He had always been called that in life. Between the worn, red cloak, the spiral glasses, and the incredibly wide and toothy smile he normally wore on his face, he fit the part. All that combined with the fact that he was only about 9 years old made most people who saw him weary.

He picked up a flat, grey rock and threw it at the waters of the Twygz. It skipped along the surface before sinking down to the dark bottom of the River. He picked up another and threw it. It skipped twice before a white, bony Underhand burst out of the water and grabbed the stone, pulling it down with it. Any time before now Fawful would've jumped in fright, but not now. He had seen and experienced far too much now. He had died.

He remembered the scene like it had just happened. He had built up a glorious empire, stolen both Princess Peach's and Bowser's castles, and secured the powerful Dark Star. He had used some of its power to combat Bowser and Mario and Luigi. But he had failed. He had been defeated and the Dark Star destroyed. He had left the world of the living grinning insanely, and causing an explosion of dark energy strong enough to throw the irritating plumbers several kilometres. He knew, however, that they wouldn't be dead. They couldn't be. They were the Mario Brothers. They survived everything. Fawful grounded his teeth in frustration. They had put him through so much.

Death had not been easy for Fawful. Fawful was scared of many things: the dark was one. Ghosts were definitely another; he turned an unhealthy shade of pale green whenever he saw a Boo. Then there was failure, disappointment, a lack of technology, and possessing stupidity. All those, he feared. But death had surpassed even the most terrifying of them, and the worst of his nightmares.

Fawful had seen people die several times before, and they had not daunted him. People often told those who were dying, "Don't go into the light." Going into the light was bad. It meant you were dead. But Fawful found out that they were all wrong; there was no light, no bliss. Only pain, and visions of things that only belonged in nightmares. When he had died, given that last, insane smile, his soul had been thrust through the portal to a different dimension, to the Underwhere. It had been horrible; images of evil creatures and places blasted through his mind, and pain had dominated all feelings, like thousands of spikes being driven into him, magnified by 1000. He had felt like something was pressing in on him. He couldn't breathe, and he longed to scream, but he found that he couldn't. It was only when the pain was at its most unbearable did a word issue from him mouth.

_'CACKLETTA!'_ he had screamed. When a moment passed, he felt no pain, saw no visions. He opened his eyes to find himself in the Underwhere. A Shayde had walked up to him.

'Hey!' he had said, with an overly cheerful tone. 'First time in the Underwhere?' Fawful had just been about to ask where he was when the Shayde laughed. 'Haha! That's just a little joke! No one comes to the Underwhere twice!' Fawful had asked what the Underwhere was, and the Shayde looked at him like he was crazy. 'You don't know the Underwhere? Well, some call it World -1. Ring any bells?' Fawful shook his head. 'Huh. Well, here's the gist of it: your game's over. You're dead.' At first he had been in complete shock, but he had grown to accept his demise. He had looked for his old mistress, the bean witch Cackletta, searching from top to bottom, but he had no found her. She wasn't just dead; her soul had been destroyed. She was gone. Fawful had cried for hours after that. He had been closer to Cackletta than he had been to anybody else in the world, and, despite her strict exterior, Fawful knew she felt the same way. They were like family to each other, even if they weren't related by blood. Ever since her disappearance when Bowser's aerial castle had exploded, a void had been present in Fawful that he knew could only be filled if he could see her again. Now that he knew she was no longer in existence, that void could never be filled. It was like everything he had lived for was gone from him forever. He was alone.

Seven days had passed since then, and now Fawful was sitting over the Twygz. He had remembered what a Shayde had said to him at one time: _"Whatever you do, make sure you don't fall into the Twygz. If you do, there's no coming back..._ Fawful stared into the fluorescent water. How easy it would be, to simply fall in. His afterlife would end, and he wouldn't need to sit in this pit and feel this eternal pain. He stood up, and a tear fell down his cheek. Perhaps he would see his mistress again. If there was anything he knew by now, it was that anything could happen when you thought it impossible. He slowly tipped forward...

...and something grabbed him by the back of his collar.

'Ack!' Fawful choked. As his eyes shot open, he found his nose was merely an inch away from the Twygz waters. He had been so close to falling in.

Just then, an Underhand burst out of the water, gripping him around his face. Fawful screamed out in terror as the bony hand tried to yank him into the River, while something else was trying to pull him away. Fawful felt stupid; what had he been _thinking_? The thing pulling on his cloak gave a final tug as the Underhand lost its grip and Fawful was sent tumbling backwards, landing on something very slimy with a thud.

_'Mmph! MMPH!' _it groaned. Fawful got off and a rather distressed looking Shayde stood up, glaring at him. 'And what,' he growled, 'was _that_?!'

Fawful decided not to answer. 'Why did you have the saving of me?!' he yelled.

'That doesn't seem like an appropriate way to thank your rescuer,' the Shayde noted.

'I did not have wanting to be rescued!' Fawful protested.

The Shayde grunted. 'Believe me, you did. You _never_ end your aftergame. There's nothing left.' Fawful remained silent. 'So, how did your game end?' the Shayde asked. Fawful didn't say anything. 'Listen, it helps to talk.'

Fawful gave a thought. 'I was destroyed by the brothers of red and green.' The Shayde raised an eyebrow. 'They had the overheating of my ship, and the killing of my mistress. They had the tormenting of me in my mind. They put the fog of rage in my eyes, and gave me fury. So much fury...' He fell silent for a moment. 'I had the building of an army of greatness, and I almost had the destroying of those hateful brothers!' He was getting much more agitated as he spoke. 'But it did not have success! It had failure! Those fink-rats had the defeating of me! And now I can no longer do anything but be sitting here wallowing!' He hung his head.

The Shayde waited for a moment. 'I bet you want revenge,' he said, finally. Fawful looked at him and nodded. 'What if I told you that you could?'

Fawful shook his head. 'It is an impossibility.'

The Shayde grinned. 'For most, yes. But not for you.' Fawful looked confused. 'You see, when you are living, you possess certain energies that keep you the way you are, define you. When your game ends, you are stripped of those energies. However, it is possible not to have those energies removed.'

'How?' Fawful asked, curious.

'Simple: there is something there to take your place, something protecting you.'

'I do not have understanding.'

'Think. Did you have anything on you, or part of you, that had a high energy content?'

Fawful thought for a moment, then the answer was clear. 'The star of darkness!' he exclaimed. At the look on the Shaydes face, he corrected himself. 'The Dark Star. I had the taking of energy from it.'

'So when you died, the Dark Star's energy took the place of your own. You are now half dead: you are in the Underwhere, while possessing your energy.'

Fawful was still confused. 'But how am I being able to go back to living?' he questioned.

'That,' said the Shayde, 'is difficult, and you aren't able to do so yourself.'

'Then why bother having the telling of me?!' Fawful exclaimed.

The Shayde laughed. 'Just thought you should know.' He gave Fawful a look. 'You know, I believe we could have a friendship down here. Don't you?' Fawful just grumbled. 'What's your name?'

Fawful looked at him; perhaps it would be nice to have a companion if he could never leave the Underwhere. 'I am being called Fawful,' he answered.

'Well then, hello Fawful.'

'What is your name being?'

The Shayde hesitated. 'It doesn't matter. Down here, we are all the same. Why bother with names? Why bother being different?'

'I am being different,' Fawful noted.

'True. Why don't we shake on it?'

Fawful frowned. 'You are not having any hands.'

The Shayde grinned and stuck out his tongue, a long, shadowy strip that dripped some unknown fluid. 'Thlake,' he said.

Fawful was repulsed. 'I am not having the shaking of your _tongue_!' he exclaimed.

The Shayde gave him a look. 'I wun bite,' he assured.

Fawful gulped, and, slowly but surely, gripped the Shayde's tongue.

It was as if an electric shock had blasted through Fawful's being, shaking him to the core. He quickly withdrew his hand, gripping his with the other. The Shayde jumped, its form rippling and changing. It reverted back to its original shape.

'What was that being?!' Fawful demanded, still holding onto his hand.

The Shayde shuttered for a moment. 'That,' he answered, is our ticket out of here, I believe. Try one more time.'

'I am _not_ holding your tongue,' Fawful repeated.

The Shayde laughed. 'That was a joke. I was going to see if you would actually do it.' Fawful stared at him in disbelief, the scowled. He put his hand on the Shayde's head, and once again felt that rush of energy. The Shayde rippled once more, and Fawful held it for a moment. 'Stop!' the Shayde said. Fawful withdrew his hand. The Shayde went back to normal. A wicked smile was developing on his face. 'This is good, very good,' he said, his voice coming out coolly.

'What are we doing now?' Fawful asked.

'Now,' said the Shayde with excitement. 'We go see Queen Jaydes.'

Fawful was nervous; Queen Jaydes was the ruler of the dead, the queen of the Underwhere. She watched over all of the departed souls, granting the good ones passage to the Overthere, the land of bliss, and refusing all those who were sinners. Fawful had been told that she would most likely not allow passage to the Overthere, and definitely not grant life. So why were they going to see her?

The Shayde led Fawful to somebody standing in front of a simple wooden boat. It was large, and had a long, also wooden pole resting on it. On the front of the boat, facing toward the other side of the river, were three lanterns emitting a strange, blue light. The man was a short, dark blue creature, dressed in an orange, crudely made shirt and long hat, several large, dirty teeth sticking messily out of its mouth.

'Thisss is the River Twygz...' it hissed. 'Its watersss are the tearsss of centuriesss of sinnersss. For four coinsss...I will ferry you to the other side...'

'Yes, and hello to you to Charold,' the Shayde said. 'Never get tired of that old line, do you?'

Charold frowned. 'Never. Do you have four coinsss...?'

'Er...' he looked down. 'I have no pockets.' The Shayde turned to Fawful. 'Do you have any money?' Fawful looked reluctant. 'Unless of course, you want to swim to the other side.' Fawful grumbled and took out four coins from a pocket and handed them to Charold.

'Thanksss,' he said. 'Now we depart...'

The three of them hopped on the boat. Charold grabbed the pole from the boat and stuck it in the water, rowing the boat along.

'So, Fawful,' the Shayde said. 'How're you feeling? Ready to see the Queen?' In truth, Fawful was very nervous; he didn't know what the Queen would do when she saw them, and, as the Queen of death, she was probably terrifying.

'I am possessing much nervousness.' he admitted.

'Ha. Don't worry. She's not scary.'

'No?'

'No.' The Shayde grinned. 'In life, I was _much_ scarier than her, or so I'm told.'

'What were you liking in life?'

'The Shayde's grin didn't falter. 'You'll see.'

The boat slowed, then came to a stop. Fawful and the Shayde hopped off, followed by Charold. He gave a small wave. 'Sssee you,' he hissed.

The Shayde had a sly look on his face. 'No, you won't.' Leaving Charold with a puzzled look on his face, Fawful and the Shayde departed towards Jaydes' temple.

They saw it in no time. It was made of dirty, grey stone. Pillars kept the temple upright, and Shaydes and odd, devil-like creatures in suits walked the halls.

'What are those creatures?' Fawful asked.

'Them? They're called D-Men. They were once Shaydes who went to Jaydes and were transformed. They do her every bidding without question.'

'Why would they be wanting to?'

'Because when you're a Shayde, you don't really have a body; you're just a soul. Despite being force to do never ending work, you at least have a body; you feel alive.'

'Why did you not have asking?'

'Me? I've been waiting for someone like you to come along. If I already had a body, this wouldn't work.'

'What wouldn't?'

'You'll see.' Fawful grumbled again.

It wasn't long before they reached Jaydes. She wore an elegant, purple dress, flowing down beyond her feet. Her collar was made of a black material, gradually toning down to a dark red as it went lower down. She wore a crown made of the same material, of the same colour. Her face was a pale purple, and wore a look of distrust on her face. Despite what the Shayde had said, Fawful couldn't help but be intimidated by the Queen.

'What business do you have with me?' she demanded at the sight of the two of them. She eyed the Shayde. 'You. Come back to demand life? Or is it a passage to the Overthere you want?' Fawful wondered how she knew exactly who the Shayde was; he looked exactly the same as the others.

'I'm afraid not Jaydes. I've come for a much better reason.'

'And what would that be?'

'To gloat.'

Both Jaydes and Fawful looked dumbfounded.

'To _gloat_?' About what?'

'Why, about this day of course!' Fawful looked at the Shayde; his mannerisms had completely changed. Perhaps he used them in life.

'And what is so special about this day?' Jaydes inquired.

The Shayde grinned. 'It is the day I cheated death.'

'What?' Jaydes demanded.

'Oh Fawful, I believe I deserve a pat on the back for my accomplishment, don't you?' Knowing what to do, Fawful put his hand on the Shayde's head, and felt, once again, the shock of a transfer of energy. This time, however, he held on tightly, willing himself not to let go, even when the feeling gave way to pain. The Shayde rippled and changed into something different. He began to grow arms and legs, hands and feet. A rough silhouette of peculiar clothes appeared on the featureless body, though Fawful couldn't get a good look at them; he was blinded by the energy rush. His eyes were squinted closed.

'I believe that's enough Fawful.' He gripped Fawful's arm and laughed. 'Jaydes! Farewell! Give my regards to Grambi for me!' He put his arm up.

'No!' Jaydes yelled. 'D-Men, secure them!' The D-Men obeyed without question, running at the two.

It was too late. The figure holding Fawful's arm snapped his fingers, and they were thrust into another world.

Fawful still had his eyes closed, but he felt awful. He felt wind whip across his face and heard noises he had never heard before, ringing in his ears. Something was pressing in on him, his whole body felt sore. He opened his eyes to see a vast array of colours zooming past too quickly to see what they truly were. It was just like dying, except without the visions and massive pain. Then, without warning, it all stopped.

Fawful was lying on his stomach in a dead patch of land, all the life drained out of it. The soreness in his body was slowly leaving him. He opened his eyes, which he had closed again, taking in the scene. Outside the confines of the lifeless circle, it was grass and trees for a while into the distance, though Fawful could see the beginnings of a town on the edge of the horizon. White and pink flowers littered the ground, blowing softly in the wind.

He got up and looked around. There was no sign of the one who brought him here. Where was he?

'Greetings,' came a voice he'd never heard before. He turned toward it; a figure was standing beneath a tree, barely visible in its shadow.

'Who are you being?' Fawful demanded threateningly. Although, he couldn't really make threats; he had no weapons.

'You don't know? I'm the one who plucked you from the Underwhere.'

Realization dawned on Fawful. 'Oh,' he said. 'Erm...' he didn't know how to say it.

'Thank you?' the person suggested.

'Yes,' Fawful decided. 'Thanking you...' He turned. 'I am going now.'

'Oh no, I don't think it'll be that easy.' Fawful froze. 'No no, I'm not going to let you just walk away. I saved you from that place, and now I need to you do something for me.'

Fawful sighed; he knew this would happen. 'What are you wanting?' he asked.

'Revenge. Revenge on four people.'

Fawful turned back to him. 'Who are they being?'

'I'll name them.' He put a fist in the air, out of the shadows. 'Princess Peach, King Bowser, Mario, and Luigi,' he said, putting a finger up for each.

As they were all named, a smile grew on Fawful's face, growing bigger as the names went on. Soon he had that characteristic, insane smile, which stretched from one ear to the other. His spiralled glasses glinted in the sunlight.

'I believe I can be helping you.'

'Good, good, then we all have an understanding.'

'Now, what is your name being?' Fawful asked, not willing to be unanswered this time.

The person laughed. 'Ah ha ha. I believe I can tell you that,' he said, as he walked out into view.

Fawful's smile vanished instantly. As soon as he saw who he was talking to, he became afraid. It wasn't because he had seen this person before. It wasn't the odd, purple and yellow jester poncho and hat he wore, it wasn't the way he walked, with a confidant and mysterious air, and it wasn't the magical feeling he seemed to admit. It was his face. It was hidden behind a mask. It was like a theatre mask. It was split into two halves. The left half was black, while the right half was white. The eye on his left side was a bright yellow and his right eye was a dark black. In fact, Fawful didn't even think that it was the mask itself that really unnerved him. No, that wasn't it at all. It was his _smile_. It was a constant, almost creepy looking smile that would simply not yield. The way the figure just stared ahead, the smile remaining etched on his face, made Fawful shiver. He had been right; in death, he _was _much scarier than Queen Jaydes. He was dangerous; Fawful could just feel it.

'I am the Master of Dimensions!' he said with flair. 'The Pleaser of Crowds!' He gave an extravagant bow, spinning his hand around as he did so. 'I am...Dimentio!' he finished. He stood back upright. 'And I believe we will have quite the career together, my little beanish friend.' Fawful stood in shocked silence. 'Well, I believe the time has come to establish a base of operations, don't you?' Dimentio put his hand on Fawful's shoulder. 'Did you enjoy your first experience of inter-dimensional travel?' he asked. Fawful shook his head, unable to talk. 'Well then, you won't like it this time either.' Dimentio snapped his fingers, and Fawful yelled as he was hurled through the dimensions for the second consecutive time.


	2. Chapter 2: Partnership

Chapter 2: Partnership

Dimentio

Inter-dimensional travel had always been easy for Dimentio. The only time he could ever remember having trouble was his first attempt. He had tried to go to a dimension where he could make a suitable home, but instead ended up in the middle of the caverns of the Floro Sapiens, an odd species that looked like humanoid flowers. It was there that he had befriended their ruler, King Croacus. The relationship between the jester and the king had been strained, but it had proved useful later on in his plans to destroy all worlds with the Chaos Heart. Plans that didn't actually end up working...Yes, inter-dimensional travel had been easy for Dimentio.

But the bean boy, Fawful, was taking it far too badly.

As they reached their destination, Dimentio immediately blocked out the sound of Fawful's terrified yell. He stretched and took in a breath, looking around. They were exactly where he had planned to take them. Good. He had had a shadow of a fear that his powers would need to be exercised before they worked properly. He was glad to see it was not so.

Fawful got up and shuttered. 'I am not liking the way we are travelling!' he complained.

'I'm afraid that's the only way we can travel Fawful, if you want to access the different dimensions.'

Fawful started. 'Different...dimensions?' he repeated questioningly.

'Yes. We have travelled to a different dimension.'

'I am not liking it.'

'You'll need to get used to it. It's what I do, and now that you are working with me, it is also what you do.'

'I never had the saying that I was working with you, fink-rat!' Fawful growled.

Dimentio ignored the insult. 'Ah, but you are. You want revenge on the heroes. I want revenge on the heroes. We have a common goal.'

'What if I am not wanting your help?'

Dimentio's smile grew slightly, and Fawful seemed to shrink before him. 'And how many times have you attempted to destroy the Mario Brothers, hm?' Fawful didn't answer. 'You tried once, you said, with your "mistress," correct?'

Fawful stared at him. 'How are you knowing that?' he demanded.

'Why, you told me of course!' As remembrance showed in Fawful's face, Dimentio gave a soft chuckle. 'Perhaps you should think before shouting out those little details. Now, you tried once before, with a plot involving a "Dark Star," and that worked just about as well as your first try. I tried my own little plot, and that failed.' Dimentio felt a wave of irritation; it would've worked, but he hadn't taken into account the Pure Hearts' ability to recharge. His smile remained present on him, however, as always. 'However, I was able to wear down the heroes, at least, and definitely would've killed them, given a bit more time. Can you say the same?' Fawful nodded furiously. 'Well, if we join forces, we will be unstoppable! Nothing will match our power. We will make a grand scene, where we, the stars of the show, emerge victorious in the end!' He held out a hand. 'It is time to show them what we are capable of.' Fawful looked at it for a moment, then gave his wide, creepy smile, and shook Dimentio's black-gloved hand.

'We will have revenging on the fink-rats of stupidness!' he stated. When Dimentio released him, Fawful took a good look at where they were. Dimentio also looked; he held memories of this place, and not all of them were good.

They were in a large, hulking castle. Everything about it was the same, dismal shade of pitch black, from the floor to the walls and the ceiling. The stairs and torches too, were also black. Each torch was still lit from the last time Dimentio had seen this place, the balls of flame flickering with intensity. The fires of the torches were black as well, and despite Dimentio's vast knowledge of things, he still had no idea what kept them lit, or why the fire was the colour it was. The only way to determine the location of the torches and flames, and the places where the walls sprouted from the floor and the ceiling started from the walls, were white outlines, easily visible against the soulless castle material. Dimentio closed his eyes. They were in the castle that he had lived in for a time, during the Chaos Heart Incident.

Fawful shivered. 'Where are we being?' he whispered, too afraid to talk to loudly in the dark hallway.

'We,' started Dimentio, 'are in our new home. Welcome to what was formerly known as "Castle Bleck."'

Fawful shivered again. 'I am not liking it.'

'Ah ha ha,' Dimentio snickered. 'Is poor little Fawful afraid of the dark?' he teased.

'I am not being afraid of the dark!' he protested.

'Well then you'll have absolutely no trouble adjusting to the new environment.' Dimentio walked to a window and looked out; the vast form of the world-destroying Void still engulfed the sky, coming to no end. He tilted his head curiously; it would seem that the Void was a dimension all on its own, and had just been waiting to expand into the others. It had not truly been destroyed, just rejected from the other worlds that bordered it. 'I believe you should find a room Fawful,' he suggested.

Fawful looked around with doubt. 'There are being bedrooms in here?' he asked.

'Well of _course_ there are bedrooms! How would you expect anyone to sleep? There are six bedrooms down the hall,' he said. 'One of them is mine, and you would do well to keep out of it. You may pick one of the other five.' Dimentio floated off in the direction of his room. He looked back. 'Follow me,' he instructed.

As he entered his bedroom, a wave of nostalgia went over Dimentio. Despite the rather unpleasant memories he had involving Count Bleck and his irritating excuses for minions, his room was different. It was a place of solitude and peace, where he could go to rest and clear his mind, and, more importantly, hatch his brilliantly crafted plans for world domination. It had been magically changed from when he had first set eyes on it, and it was quite different in contrast to the rest of the castle. It the walls and floor were a light green, with darker green patterns of swerving lines and small stars for a decoration. His bed was checkered in two different shades of green, and a purple desk was pushed up against the wall. A purple closet was also present, though it hadn't been opened in a while, and only contained one set of clothing. It looked like Dimension D, his greatest dimensional accomplishment. He opened the drawers; various magical formulas he had discovered lay cluttered inside them, as well as some plans involving the Chaos Heart. He snapped his fingers and the plans burned to ashes; he wouldn't be needing them. The Void might still be here, but the Chaos Heart was destroyed, along with its link to him. If only the link hadn't been destroyed, perhaps he wouldn't have been left in the Underwhere without a body. Oh well, it didn't matter. He couldn't believe everything was still in order after everything that had happened in the castle. It was incredible. He rearranged and tidied his papers; he hadn't tried out some of them before, and he wanted to keep them orderly, as he knew he would now have time to test them. He exited his room.

Dimentio heard a door slam down the hall. He looked to see Fawful exiting one of the other five bedrooms. 'Well?' he asked.

'That room is not being for me,' he said, sounding slightly embarrassed.

'My my, you sound like you've done something very _naughty_,' Dimentio said.

'I have been doing nothing!'

Dimentio looked at the door, which was marked with a sign saying "STAY OUT DUMMIES!" A crudely drawn photo of Dimentio was below the words, an arrow pointing to it. At the beginning of the arrow were the words "THIS MEANS YOU."

Dimentio chuckled. 'Hmm...isn't this _Mimi's_ room?' Dimentio had snuck inside various times to read Mimi's diary. What fun it was to unearth someone's greatest secrets and use them against them! It had proved quite useful during his plans. That was rare, however. Most of the time he just did it to annoy her. It always worked, much to Dimentio's great satisfaction. He turned to Fawful, smile wide. 'What did you do?'

'I-I had looking through the room to see if I could use it,' he stuttered.

'You...' Dimentio started, then instantly understood. He laughed. 'You didn't!' The look on Fawful's face told him otherwise. 'Didn't anybody ever tell you not to look through a girl's belongings?' Dimentio laughed more; this was too funny.

'Stop with the laughing!' Fawful commanded.

Eventually, Dimentio stopped. 'Ah ha. Yes, that room is not for you. I suggest you try Mr. L's room down on the right over there. Much more neutral.' Fawful scuttled along to the room, leaving Dimentio alone.

He looked back to Mimi's room. He was curious; if his room was still intact, then could the rest of them be? He went inside.

The pink instantly overwhelmed him. Pink walls, pink bed sheets, pink this and pink that, all in different shades. He had to blink a few times for his eyes to adjust; it had been a while since he'd been in here. Mimi had always had a lot of variety when it came to clothes, but her favourite colour had always been pink, and it was as if she took all the love of pink she ever had and crammed it into one room. As Dimentio walked further in, he saw that it had changed very little since when he had last set foot into it. Her bed was unmade and very messy as usual, and her closet contained a large pile of clothes of every shape, size, and colour on its floor, coat hangers dangling uselessly from a bar. He walked around. It was interesting, how seven people, with such differences in personality, could possibly have lived together under one roof. True, he and Mimi had often fought over little things such as her room suddenly being incredibly messy, with her things thrown everywhere. She had blamed it on Dimentio, who stated at the time that he had had nothing to do with it, though it was a good excuse to make her angry two weeks later when he told her it was, in fact, him. He chuckled at the memory. Good times. Mr. L and O'Chunks had never really gotten along well either. Mr. L had always been far too ready to pick on the other minions, and O'Chunks was far too gullible and easily annoyed. _If I wanted to laugh, your face is inspiration enough!_ Dimentio's smile wavered, but didn't disappear. Yes, Mr. L had been far too hot-headed for his own good. Good thing that joke had ended with his demise; Dimentio didn't take to well to "face" insults. He traced the outlines of his mask. Not at all.

Dimentio set his eyes on a light pink desk. He walked over to it. He opened the drawer he had memorized and looked at its contents: a stuffed animal (or rather, a stuffed arachnid; it was a spider), a few drawings (one of Count Bleck, one of her and a "hunky" lifeguard in a gem-filled pool, another of Count Bleck, one of Dimentio being beaten by Count Bleck, another one of Count Bleck...), and a book which Dimentio never bothered to look at. At the very bottom was what he was looking for: a well decorated book labelled "Diary."

He opened the pages, skipping past ones he had already read. He didn't know why he was doing this; there was no Mimi around to bug. He went to the last page; it was blank. Flipping back through the book until he found the last entry, he began to read.

_Dear Diary,_

_I am very nervous right now. That stupid dummyhead Mario and his annoying Princess have gotten all the Pure Hearts! They're going to come and try to beat the Count! I know, it's horrible right? Well, I know he won't be able to, because I won't let him!_

Dimentio chuckled; at this point in time Mimi had already been beaten twice, and she thought she could take them on!

_Yeah, I'm gonna make sure that stupid, smart-aleck Princess gets punched in her big fat mouth! It'll be so much fun! But...even if they get past me, I know they won't beat the Count! He's just too tough for that. I know they'll beat that idiot, Dimentio._ _He's too weak to fight them well. I know the Count's gonna beat them up real bad! Then we can all enjoy that perfect world he's so excited about._

Dimentio laughed. Mimi had been so naive, just like the rest of the Count's minions. Dimentio had known the Count's true purpose: to destroy all worlds and leave them in ruin. All because he couldn't see his "love" ever again. Love. It was such a useless emotion. If he had had his way, love wouldn't exist. Then the world would be perfect. His smile grew broader. He was alive, and now he had a chance to try once more. Another chance to make the world perfect. He shut the book and put it back. He wondered how Fawful was doing.

Dimentio went out into the hall. Fawful hadn't returned from the room. He must've been redecorating; everybody had different tastes. He went to Mr. L's former room and opened the door.

To a complete mess.

The room was in complete disarray. A table had been knocked down, pencils laying on the floor. Blueprints and brainstorming sheets littered the ground, each displaying prototypes for his robotic "brother," Brobot. Posters of various things had been torn off the walls, and a dartboard with a picture of Mario on it had been thrown across the room.

'F-Fawful?' he exclaimed. 'What are you doing?' Fawful was in the process of tearing up a poster of Mr. L. tears streaming down his face. He collapsed on the floor, sobbing. 'What happened?'

Fawful glared angrily at Dimentio. 'Why did you not have the telling me of the green mustache?' he demanded, choking back another sob.

'"Green mustache?" Luigi isn't—' Dimentio began. 'Oh.' That was right. Mr. L, the last of Count Bleck's minions, had in fact been Luigi, the younger of the Mario Bros., under the hypnotic influence of Nastasia, the closest of the Count's minions. The only difference in attire was a black jumpsuit with a green bandana, and a small mask that only covered his eyes, making his resemblance to Luigi very striking. Dimentio couldn't believe it when neither the heroes, the guards of the castle, Mimi, or O'Chunks didn't recognize him for who he really was. The only people who knew were him, Nastasia, and of course, Count Bleck. Fawful had seen right through Mr. L's disguise instantly, which no doubt brought back painful memories. 'I had forgotten about him. I suppose I was too used to the minions ignorance.' Dimentio snapped his fingers and all of the room's contents disappeared, leaving the room bare. 'You will be able to redecorate as you see fit.'

Fawful gave him a look. 'I am not knowing how to travel between dimensions,' he reminded.

'Ah yes, that little detail. Hold still.' Dimentio snapped his fingers, and a light engulfed Fawful, twisting around him and wrapping him up. When it was done, it disappeared. 'Voila.' Dimentio said. 'You can now "flip" between the different worlds.'

'Howing?'

'Do you feel anything different?'

Fawful waited a moment. 'Yes. I am feeling something.'

'Simply envision the place you want to flip to, and then call upon that feeling.'

Fawful closed his eyes and thought. After a moment, he concentrated, then a flat box was drawn around him, and he flipped out of the dimension.

'Hm.' Dimentio searched for Fawful's energy. 'Ah. Toad Town in the Mushroom Kingdom. Interesting.' Dimentio warped to Fawful.

The moment Dimentio entered the dimension, he made himself invisible. A useful skill. He searched around for Fawful, and it wasn't long before he found him in one of the shops. He was wearing a hood to hide his face and kept his hands inside his gloves. He spoke to the person at the counter about buying a table. He pointed to one, the worker named the price. Fawful started shouting at him, and after a few more moments, he trudged out angrily.

'Having troubles with prices Fawful?' Dimentio chuckled, letting his invisibility disappear.

'Everything is being too expensive!' he complained.

Dimentio's smile grew and he laughed evilly. 'Ah ha ha. But why purchase the goods when you could simply _steal_ them?'

Fawful had a blank look on his face. 'I am not having weapons,' he said.

'Well then I can take care of that too.' Dimentio snapped his fingers. A moment passed.

'WHERE'D THE DESK GO?' came a yell from the shop.

Fawful looked in the direction of the shop, then back at Dimentio, who was smiling wickedly. 'And what else do you need for your room Fawful?'

The day passed, and by the end of it, Fawful had everything he needed to make the room his own. Fawful had also given Dimentio a list of materials he would need for the inventions he planned to make. When he was done, it was like home, decorated in the Beanish style. Machines of all sorts lined the walls, various tools placed neatly in the spots Fawful desired. A bed, also in the Beanish style, was next to the wall. Fawful had a huge grin on his face.

'It is being perfect!' he exclaimed. 'Now I will have the making of many things!'

'I'm glad,' Dimentio said, not because he really cared how the Bean boy felt, but because he needed Fawful's skills to help him, even if they weren't that great. After all, how good at machinery could a nine year old really be?


	3. Chapter 3: Reconnaissance

Chapter 3: Reconnaissance

Fawful

Fawful shoved the door to his new room open in haste and ran down the dark hallway of the castle. When he reached Dimentio's room, he threw it open.

'Dimentio!' he exclaimed excitedly.

Dimentio flew about ten feet in the air in surprise, scrambling over on his stomach. He grabbed his mask, which was sitting on a purple beside table, and slapped it on his face. As he turned to face Fawful, Fawful saw the mask undergo various facial expressions, before becoming completely neutral. After a moment, it lapsed into that familiar grin.

'And what,' Dimentio asked, 'are you doing waking me up?' He was clearly irritated, but the smile on his face made the effect all the more disturbing.

Fawful was too excited to care. 'I had the making of many things!' he beamed. Dimentio raised an eyebrow. Fawful reached into his pocket and pulled out two silver rings, big enough to fit around their wrists. One was simply a silver ring with a small, red light on its top, while the other had a small, circular depression on it where the light was on the other, tiny, reflective, metal panels lining its inside. A small, chrome button was placed next to it.

'Wrist bands?' Dimentio questioned. 'What do they do?'

Fawful's smile grew. 'Have the putting on of this one,' he instructed, pointing to the one with the light. Dimentio pulled on its ends, and it snapped in half. He put the wrist band on and closed it. Fawful did the same with the other one. He pressed the chrome button and the depression in the ring, which turned out to be a holographic projector, buzzed to life, causing the light on Dimentio's ring to light up. A translucent, blue screen appeared from it, a small, red dot beeping near the centre. Dimentio raised his other eyebrow. 'It is being a device of tracking,' Fawful explained. 'The dot of redness is being you.' He moved his finger along the screen. It zoomed out to reveal a map of the building. Another movement revealed a map of the dimension, which was simplistic in itself, being basically nothingness. Another movement zoomed it out to reveal a simple screen with dots all around it, which were labelled. He pressed the one labelled "Mushroom World" and pressed it, and it zoomed in to reveal a map of the dimension. One more movement and it replaced itself with the initial map it had first shown.

'You made this?' Dimentio asked incredulously.

Fawful's smile grew even broader, which, by the look on Dimentio's face, seemed to be quite a feat, however effortless it actually was to him. 'I told you, I will have the making of many things.'

'Interesting.' Dimentio was regarding him with interest. 'So this device tracks me?' Fawful nodded. 'Do you not have one for me?'

Fawful shook his head. 'I thought you were possessing the ability to sense me. You were doing so in Toad Town.'

Dimentio nodded. 'Observant. You seem to be one of the more...competent villains I've ever known.'

'I do not have surprise,' Fawful replied. Thinking back to others he had met, including the Koopa King, Bowser, Fawful thought he was most likely the brightest of them all. Actually, when it came to Bowser, most people were probably smarter. 'I had thinking that it would be of importance on missions,' Fawful added.

Dimentio nodded. 'I'm sure it will.' He grinned, which sent chills down Fawful's spine; it just never went away, and was too unnatural. 'I believe you may start your first mission today.'

Fawful wasn't so sure. 'But I am not having weapons! I will not be able to have the destroying of those fink-rats!' he exclaimed.

'Ah ha ha. But this mission does not require weapons, Fawful. Simply stealth and a good memory.'

'What is it being?'

'I want you to go to the Mushroom Kingdom and look around Princess Peach's castle. Find out everything you can about it: secret passages, escape routes, get a layout or the blueprints if you can.'

'You have having a plan?' Fawful asked.

Dimentio kept his grin. 'A _brilliant_ plan.'

Fawful sneaked along the outsides of the castle, making sure not to be seen by any Toads, native residents of the Mushroom Kingdom, which were small, humanoid creatures with mushroom heads on top of their own heads. They traditionally wore brown shoes and something covering their lower body which looked very much like a diaper. They also wore blue vests, the outline of them was yellow. The vast majority of people thought Toads were very cute, though Fawful only saw them as annoying, overly cheerful and happy beings. What he would give to show them what the world was really like. But no, that needed to wait; he had a job to do.

Sneaking past the pedestrians, keeping to the shadows, Fawful walked closer to his destination. It was a large rock, bigger than Fawful by quite a bit, but light enough for him to move. He shoved on the rock, muscles straining with the effort. Well, it was light enough for him to move, but it required enormous amounts of effort. Soon enough, he had gotten the boulder pushed out of the way enough. He reached down, gripped at large patch of earth, and pulled it away, revealing a hidden passage. He had never known how it had gotten there, but it was an easy and convenient way to get into the castle unnoticed.

Climbing down the tunnel, Fawful found it quite dark. He shivered; he didn't like dark spaces much, not now. Life had taught him to fear the dark, as no one knew what kinds of creatures would be waiting for him. But he pressed on.

The passage levelled out, and it was easier and less stressful to move on, now that he wasn't afraid of tumbling forward down the hill. A soft warning buzz sounded from his wristband. Fawful jumped in fright. The sound had been quiet, but in the extreme silence that Fawful had been in had made it seem a million times louder. A red light was beeping from the holographic projector; he pressed the chrome button and the map came to life, with a large, red warning signal beeping in its centre. "TRACKING SIGNAL LOST,' it read.

Fawful was confused. He pressed on the screen a few times, trying to correct it. He pressed the button labelled "TRACKER LOCATION." A loading sign appeared, searched for a few moments, then "TRACKING SIGNAL LOST" appeared once more.

A feeling of dread was growing in Fawful. If that warning had come up, then that meant that Dimentio's band had stopped working for some reason. Either Fawful had done something wrong while building it (which was _highly_ unlikely), or something had happened to Dimentio. Something unexpected.

Fawful took of his glasses, wiped sweat off his forehead with his sleeve, and took off his glasses, cleaning them with his shirt. This was a large setback, but he needed to press on with the mission. Dimentio could take care of himself. Definitely. Probably. He hoped. He closed the map and pressed on.

It wasn't long before Fawful came to a slight incline. After a minute or two of walking, he banged his head on a metal lid. He grumbled to himself; he always forgot that it was there. He put his hands underneath it and pushed up.

As he climbed out of the passage, he was greeted by the familiar sight of the sewers of Peach's Castle. The dark blue bricks that made up the walls and the dull green pipes that constantly spewed water made him feel nostalgic and calm. The sewers, however repulsive and smelly they were, had been home to him at one point in his life, in a time where his name was very well known and there was a bounty on his head. Venturing out into the open would've been very close to suicide. He smiled, and for once it wasn't the smile that had earned him his reputation; it was a heartfelt smile at a memory when everything was calm and safe. He looked towards the pipes; he knew he had a job to do, but...it wouldn't hurt.

He walked through the pipes in the direction he knew very well, the sounds of splashing water and the clanging of metal under his feet the only things that broke the silence. He turned a corner and went into his previous home.

It was decorated in a beanish style and a Beanish style, which were two completely different things. It was kind of like a bar at first glance. A counter was at the far end of the shop, empty jars sitting on it here and there. A small poster displaying the various kinds of beans native to both the Beanbean and Mushroom Kingdoms on it, labelling their features and properties. Lights hung from the ceiling, shaped like yellow beans, and some metal stools with padded, pink tops were lined up against the counter. The floor was decorated with a giant, dark red rug with an equally gigantic smiley face with large, yellow eyes and mouth, showing a large, toothy grin, as was popular in the Beanbean Kingdom from which he was native from. Fawful walked behind the counter. The floor from there to the end of the room was made up of chocolate brown bricks. A large case rested behind the counter, filled with badges Fawful never needed; he would sell them for beans, which both provided food and reminded him of his real home. There was a room beyond as well, which contained a bed, kitchen, and other things you would find in a household.

Fawful just stood there, unable to do anything. This was his own area of living. It was a place he could call home. For a few minutes, he considered just staying here and forgetting about revenge, and living happily. An image of Fawful being knocked out of a window in Bowser's aerial castle flashed through his mind, followed by an image of that same castle exploding, his mistress, Cackletta, dying with it, and then an image of himself exploding, the Mario Bros. staring down at him, emotionless. Fawful gritted his teeth, the smile replaced by a furious grimace. No. Things would never be the same, never go back to the way they were, when he and Cackletta would hatch evil schemes, with Fawful training every bit of the way. He would never see her again, never feel the true thrill of plotting anymore, because deep down, there was a hole in him that had been there ever since Cackletta had gone, which could never be filled. It was all the fault of Mario and Luigi. He closed his hand into a fist tightly, his whole body shivering. He would make them pay for everything they had done to him. He would have his revenge, for both him and his mistress.

He would destroy them. Destroy them utterly.

As Fawful walked along the bright hallways of Peach's Castle, decorated with various mushroom related symbols and furniture, Fawful actually felt at home. During the events of the plan he had gone through with to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, he had taken over both Peach's and Bowser's castles and made them his own. He knew a lot about both of them, but it never hurt to do another look around; they would've changed it from what Fawful was familiar with.

Keeping to the shadows, Fawful scoped out the entire castle. The mapping system on his ring also had a drawing device. Fawful could make the map from scratch, labelling hidden passages and writing down things of importance about it, and all would be saved in its memory. He tried to locate Dimentio again, but was once again confronted with the same, nerve wracking message.

Fawful finished the first floor. He had labelled the various rooms throughout the first floor, like the guest room, a bedroom, and even a bathroom. You never knew when these things would be important. He ducked into the shadows behind a pillar as a group of Toads walked by, chatting about unimportant things. Fawful waited until they were far enough into the distance before daring to creep up the stairs and through the doors to the second floor.

There were more people on the second floor, which wasn't good for Fawful. If he was discovered, it wouldn't completely jeopardize the plan, but it would be too dangerous for Fawful to return, and they wouldn't have a complete map to go by. Dimentio had said that he'd had a plan, and for that plan to work, they needed a detailed map of the castle, which Fawful needed to supply.

He made sure to steer clear of the Toads' paths, and, after pressing a few buttons and making a new screen for the second floor to be drawn on, he went back to scoping. There were much more rooms on the second floor. More bedrooms, more bathrooms, a kitchen, an observatory, among other things. There was one room that he couldn't enter; it was in the middle of the second floor's main hall and was guarded by a Toad in white robes holding a sharp-looking spear. Fawful made a note on his map labelled: "Princess' Room?" He didn't know for sure, but it was a good enough guess. There was also a games room and a dining room as well. Fawful labelled all of these on his map, while making the map itself as well. More Toads crossed his path, and he ducked behind another pillar. He hoped they would continue on with their way, but they didn't. They stopped and continued talking. Fawful growled silently; stupid, idiotic Toads!

'I'm so excited! It's gonna be the best party ever!' one of them exclaimed.

Fawful was suddenly interested. A party? That was something that was very important.

'Yeah, me too. What're you gonna wear?' asked the other.

'I don't know. Maybe something scary, like, really scary. You know, knock-everybody's- socks-off scary.'

'I hope it isn't too scary. Toadsworth might have a heart attack!'

'Yeah! Haha!' The two Toads laughed and continued on their way.

Fawful grinned; this was something worth telling Dimentio. He tried to locate him again, but to no avail. He growled and continued to map.

He was done with the second floor. The third was really nothing; simply a hallway with a flight of stairs at the end. Regardless, he mapped it. The fourth floor was another hallway with a flight of stairs that turned and went the other way up. He mapped that too. After a walk across the roof of the castle, there was a spiral staircase that went up to a balcony in one of the towers. Exploring the castle more, he found similar balconies in the other towers. After a time, he was completely done.

He was moving along at a trot now, eager to leave the castle, every moment perilous to him. His cloak was drawn tightly over his face, he quickly made his way to the entrance to the sewers.

'Hey there!' came a cheerful voice from behind him.

Fawful froze instantly, drawing his hood tighter around his head. Sweating profusely, he turned around. It was a happy looking, red spotted Toad, a smile on his face. 'Hello,' Fawful said, making his voice sound deeper than it really sounded.

'Are you lost?' the Toad asked.

'Uh-um...' Fawful stuttered.

'Ha. I really don't blame you if you are, really. This castle's pretty big. Even _I_ get lost sometimes, and I work here!'

Fawful cleared his throat. 'Erm...yes,' he lied. 'I am very lost.'

The Toad laughed. 'I thought so. Where do you want to go? I'll show you around.'

'I was leaving,' Fawful replied curtly, using as few words as possible to hide his distinctive mannerisms.

'Oh. Okay, I'll take you to the door.' The Toad began to walk in one direction, and Fawful followed. 'What's your name?' the Toad asked casually.

Fawful's breath caught in his throat. 'Er, my name is bei-er, my name is...' His mind was working at a mile a minute, trying to think of a name. 'Gera,' he finally answered. It was a good name, and he had used it various times before his Dark Star Plot.

'"Gera" huh?' the Toad repeated. 'Nice name! Alright follow me.'

Fawful reached the front door of the castle in no time with the guidance of the Toad. He opened it.

'Well, here it is,' he proclaimed.

Fawful took a few steps and turned to face the Toad. 'Er...thank you,' he muttered, forcing himself not to use the Engrish he was so accustomed with.

'Oh, by the way,' the Toad began.

'Yes?' Fawful asked, impatient to leave.

'Have you heard of that Halloween party we're going to have?'

Fawful shook his head. 'No.'

'Well, now you know. It's in a few days, if you want to come.'

Fawful thought; he didn't know how this would affect their plans. 'I will think about it,' he answered, his words coming out oddly as he used grammar he wasn't accustomed with.

'Okay. Hope I see you there Gera!'

Fawful walked off without a second thought, the Toad waving after him.

Fawful ducked behind a bush and pulled down his hood. He was sweating and panting with fear. That had been far too close for comfort. If the Toad had looked a little bit harder, he would've been discovered. Good thing the Toad wasn't nearly as smart as he was. Fawful got up and flipped back to Castle Bleck, eager to report his findings back to Dimentio.


	4. Chapter 4: Royal Reunion

Chapter 4: Royal Reunion

Dimentio

'You are having a plan?' Fawful asked Dimentio.

Dimentio kept the grin that he had been wearing. Yes, he certainly did. 'A _brilliant_ plan,' he replied. Fawful grinned, excitement dominating his face. He flipped dimensions without another word.

Dimentio warped to his room immediately. Yes, he had a plan. A plan for revenge. A plan for domination. And it probably wasn't something that Fawful was expecting. As he went through his room, he did a quick check through his drawers. He took a brief look through his list of spells, memorizing some of the more interesting ones. He would need them where he was going. He closed his eyes and felt for it; that distinctive energy pulse that he had felt every day for a very long time, up until the point where he had been killed. He searched through the dimensions...and found it.

As soon as he had figured out which dimension he was looking for, his smile twitched. 'Oh, you _must_ be kidding me,' he muttered to himself. Any dimension, _any_ but that one. He sighed; he supposed it must be done. He was about to snap his fingers as he realized something. He looked down at the silver ring Fawful had given him, which he was wearing on his arm. Fawful couldn't know where he was going. He pressed his fingers on the ring and send a small shock of magic through it. It sparked once, and the red light on the ring shut off. Perfect. That should be fine. He snapped his fingers and was sent through the dimensions, feeling the familiar rush of the unorthodox method of travel. He always enjoyed it. It was like a roller coaster ride; it gave him thrills, an adrenaline rush. The wind and the colours. He remembered Fawful; perhaps that was why he didn't like it. Far too overwhelming.

Dimentio's ride came to an abrupt halt as he appeared in the dimension he was looking for. It looked like a kingdom. A castle was at its heart, made of white bricks, towers hulking over all. Fields stretched out everywhere, animals grazing, people doing their jobs, raising the animals, growing the crops, making the weapons. Dimentio took it all in; it hadn't changed at all since he had last visited the primitive dimension. It was exactly the same. No, that was wrong. The last time he had visited it, it had been in turmoil. Now it was peaceful.

Dimentio thought of turning invisible, taking what he needed, and leaving. He decided against it; it was too boring. He needed something with _flair_. So he warped to the castle gates, following the energy, and opened the doors, walking inside the castle.

The inside of the castle was amazing. It was elegant and proud, fit for the royals that inhabited it. It had red drapes hanging from the walls, lined with gold, as well as on the floor. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling now and then, the sunlight reflecting off of the multifaceted gems. People walked down the hallway, doing their daily jobs, hurrying this way and that, paying no attention to the mischievous jester who was, oddly enough, _walking_ the halls. Dimentio wanted something interesting to happen, but floating across the halls was a bit overkill.

Dimentio had one huge blast of nostalgia as he walked down the hallways. He remembered so much about this castle, from the dining hall to the bedrooms to the bathrooms. And he wasn't the least bit happy about them. He held nothing but contempt for the ancient building and everyone in it. He remembered a point when the castle had been in chaos, with blood lining the walls, corpses everywhere. He smiled at the thought; what made it all the more satisfying was the fact that he himself had caused the carnage.

He turned a corner. The energy seemed to be coming from the library. Fitting. And he hadn't been approached once. That was a pity; he was incredibly bored.

As he was walking, his mind elsewhere, someone rushed down the halls and crashed into him. Dimentio's didn't fall over, or even stagger, but the person fell over backwards. It was a woman.

She got up off the floor and dusted herself off. 'I'm so sorry!' she exclaimed. 'I wasn't watching where I was going! You must forgive me!' As she saw who she was talking to, her eyes widened and he face went white.

Dimentio's grin widened. 'Why greetings!' he said, his words coming out in a soft tone, made to frighten her. Dimentio recognized her immediately; she was one of the servants at the castle. 'Annabelle! It really _has_ been a long time!'

Annabelle was horrified. 'It's y-y-you!' she exclaimed.

'Why yes, how could you ever forget me?' Dimentio continued. He was thrilled; this was the fun he had been waiting for. 'We go back quite a ways, don't we? We should catch up, like old friends!'

'Y-y-you're nothing but a monster!' she exclaimed.

'Do you really think so? I'm hurt.' Dimentio's smile had grown; this was too much fun. Annabelle said no more, just ran down the hall. Dimentio knew she would be going for the king. Ah well, just more fun. He continued walking as if nothing had happened. He didn't get far.

'Halt!' someone shouted. 'Stop or else!' Dimentio stopped and turned around. A guard was standing ahead, facing him, clad in full armour and brandishing a sword. 'In the name of the king, you're under arrest!'

'What?' Dimentio mocked. 'No list? I suppose it would be far too long.'

'If you come quietly, no one will get hurt,' the knight warned. A circle of knights had surrounded the jester, each holding a sword.

'Ah yes, that would be much too disappointing, wouldn't it? I'm afraid I won't be listening to you.'

'I'll give you one more warning: come with me or we'll subdue you by force.'

Dimentio grinned. 'Well then, let us see you try.'

The knight ran at Dimentio and took a swing. Dimentio dodged to the right and snapped his fingers. The sword disappeared. The knight looked bewildered. 'What?' he exclaimed. Another knight raced at Dimentio, but before he could attack, the previous knight's sword fell from the sky and hit him on the head, blade first. It didn't puncture the armour, but it dazed him. Another snap of his fingers and the knight was sent flying through the air by a small explosion, crashing to the floor, armour clattering. Another snap and one knight crashed into another. The first knight picked up his weapon and swung it. Dimentio dodged again and again. We waved his fingers and shot a burst of dimensional energy, glowing yellow and purple, tiny, yellow boxes crackling from it. It struck the guard in the stomach, sending him collapsing on the ground. He had done all this without pivoting around to face another direction. He waved his fingers again and prepared another energy attack.

'Well, well, well, this has been fun, but I'm afraid it's time for the certain to be drawn on this show.'

'Not quite,' a commanding voice called. Dimentio turned. It was the king, dressed in regal clothes that displayed his vast wealth to an amazing degree. A big cloak, made of fur, fell to the floor. He had a golden ring on his right hand, and an amazing crown, studded with jewels, rested on his head. He was glaring at Dimentio with a fury that he could barely suppress. 'Dimentio,' he breathed. 'I thought I'd never have to ever lay eyes on you.'

'And who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?' Dimentio asked.

'I'm the king,' he said simply.

'Surely not the king I used to know and love?'

'No. I was the king of the neighbouring country.'

'Ah. That makes sense.'

'Yes, you have quite the reputation. And now _I'm_ going to develop it further as the crazed jester who was killed in my rule!'

The knights (who were still left standing) backed away and four people walked forward. They were each dressed in robes of white, though each was decorated a different colour. One was red, another was blue, yet another was brown, and the last was yellow. Dimentio felt the power behind them. He wasn't frightened, however; far from it.

'And who are these?' Dimentio questioned.

'These,' beamed the king proudly. 'Are my mages, infinitely skilled in the magical arts! They will destroy you and I and the whole kingdom will finally be able to rest soundly knowing you are gone forever!'

Dimentio grinned. 'Oh, I'm afraid that won't be the case for two reasons: one, I will not lose to them, and two, even if I die, you will still fear me.'

The king chuckled. 'And why is that?'

'Death did not hold me. I escaped from the Underwhere once, didn't you know?'

'Bah!' the king grunted. 'Enough of your meaningless drivel! Mages, attack!'

They obeyed immediately, running at Dimentio. The red one shot a blast of fire at him, the yellow one sent forth a gale of wind, the blue one shot water, and the brown one threw earth. Dimentio shot up into the air, hovering above the assault.

Everyone gaped at him. 'What? Have you not discovered flight yet?' He shot a blast of energy at the red mage, which jumped away and shot more fire. '_Elemental_ magic?' he sneered. 'I gave that up _centuries_ ago!' He shot another one at the brown one, making direct contact. He fell to the ground and got back up, a pile of rock flying out of his fingertips. Dimentio snapped his fingers and it crashed into a wall of dimensional energy, falling to the floor. A snap of Dimentio's fingers and an explosion engulfed the mage, who ducked to the floor.

A torrent of water smashed into Dimentio from behind, sending him smashing into the wall. He pushed away, then shook himself off, turning to the mage. Smile growing, he laughed.

'Ah ha ha! Let's see how you deal with—' he began. He snapped his fingers and disappeared. A moment later he reappeared, along with two duplications of him. 'This!' he finished. The three Dimentio's swerved around the mages. They each waved a finger and shot three blasts of energy at once. The nine blasts whistled through the air, striking two of the mages in the stomach, while missing the other two. A wave of fire flew through the air and went right through one of the Dimentio's, not harming it at all. All three of them laughed in unison. 'Ah ha ha!' they all boomed. 'You'll have to do better than that!' They swerved around, mixing up their locations. 'Oh me, oh my!' they snickered. 'Which one's the real me, and which ones are the phoneys? Can you figure it out?'

The king wasn't pleased. 'Dimentio you idiotic swine!' he fumed. 'Enough with your dark spells! Fight with honour!'

Dimentio's clones immediately disappeared. Dimentio hovered down and landed, staring at the king, his ever-present smile etched on his face. 'Oh I'm afraid, your _majesty_,' he mocked, stressing the last word, 'that I am fighting entirely on my honour. I am fighting for myself, for the object I so desperately want, and, most importantly, for my goal. My goal for a perfect world.' Dimentio felt the surge of energy from the mages. He snapped his fingers as they fired all of their elements at once, merging together to form one attack, and a wall of dimensional energy appeared, blocking it easily. He turned to them. 'You've had your fun,' Dimentio said to the mages. 'But now it is time to end it!' He waved his hands and a box of glowing, dimensional energy appeared around each of the mages. 'Here is when your games are ended, like the life of the hero of a child's video game as he falls down a bottomless pit with no lives due to the player's lack of experience!' He snapped his fingers and the boxes were engulfed in many large explosions, the searing heat of the flames passing over them all. When they ceased, the mages were gone, gone to the Underwhere, replaced by scorch marks on the priceless carpet.

Dimentio turned around. The king and the knights were standing speechless, staring at the jester in shock. 'And one more thing: the spells that I was using were in _no_ way "dark spells." No, they were a magic all in its own category: dimensional magic, an art of my own creation!' He grinned widely. 'No, dark magic looks more like this.'

Dimentio rounded on the nearest knight, a small, black ball forming on his fingertip. He pressed it into the knight, who then yelled in pain and aged rapidly, dissolving into dust.

'_That_ is dark magic,' Dimentio explained.

'You...' the king sputtered. 'You just...'

Dimentio was eating up the shock of this so-called king, this immense political authority. He smiled with malice. 'Yes, I just murdered five people in the blink of an eye. Just like _that_.' He snapped his fingers at the last word, causing another knight to explode amidst flames. 'And there's six.' He stared at the king, his smile growing. 'And what do you feel when you think of it? Shock? Anger? Or sorrow? I wouldn't doubt the first two. But you've experienced sorrow before, haven't you?' The king closed his eyes and shook. 'Yes...the death of a loved one...tell me, do you think the poor little princeling made it to the Overthere?'

'NO!' the king yelled. He reached into his cloak and unveiled a sword. He ran at Dimentio, screaming hysterically, swinging madly. 'YOU MONSTER! YOU MURDERER! YOU HORRIBLE, EVIL, JESTER!'

Dimentio snickered. 'Ah ha. Now now, don't lose your head on us majesty.'

The king shouted a loud, vulgar curse. 'YOU FIEND! YOU KILLED MY SON!'

Dimentio snapped his fingers and the sword melted into a paste, dripping onto the floor. He raised an eyebrow; his new spells worked wonders. 'Tsk tsk, that isn't a very good way to treat guests.'

The king slammed his fist on the floor. 'You killed him...' he breathed.

'Yes, I killed him,' the jester admitted. 'And I will do the same to you if you don't take me to what's mine.' The king looked up at him. 'Don't play the fool with me. You know what I'm referring to.'

The king gave him one more look and sighed. 'Very well,' he muttered, defeated. 'I will take you there.'

'Your Majesty!' a knight cried. 'I cannot allow you—'

'Silence!' the king roared. 'This is not your duty. I will go alone.'

'Now _that's_ more like it,' Dimentio said.

The king looked at him. 'If you get your belonging, you will leave immediately?' the king questioned.

Dimentio nodded. 'I will depart without another glance,' he confirmed.

'Then I suppose we should be going.'

They travelled down the hallways, the king trudging silently, Dimentio floating enthusiastically. They soon reached the room they were looking for: the library. The king looked through the shelves until he selected a book. He took it out and handed it to Dimentio, who regarded it silently.

It was a dark book, a light shade of black mostly. At each of the cover's four corners, a grey, polished stone resided. A square had been drawn around the edges, a dark shade of purple at the bottom, gradually changing to red at the top. As it neared the stones, the edges of the squares disappeared, instead arcing around them to another side of the cover. A diamond shape had been drawn inside the "square", also purple near the bottom, red near the top. In the middle of the diamond, a shining, blue pearl rested, a purple circle of colour emitting from it, lighter near the pearl, darker as it grew. The covers were attached to the black spine by three, grey rings, tightly fitted around the spine. It was the same on both sides.

Dimentio flipped through the book, ancient prophecies written in it. It looked by all accounts the book Dimentio had wanted, but there was something missing.

'Hmm...' Dimentio mused. 'A fake. I thought you might try as much.' He looked up from the king accusingly.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' he muttered.

'It's a fake, a phoney, a red herring, whatever you want to call it. I want the real one, and I want it immediately.'

'I told you, I don't know—' Dimentio brought his thumb and middle finger together at their tips in preparation for a spell. 'Alright!' the king lamented. He walked over to a drawer behind a desk and opened it, revealing an exact replica of the previous book. Or rather, the previous book was an exact replica of this one. The king gave it to Dimentio. He looked at it, felt the familiar buzz of dark power emitting from it.

'You're incredibly dedicated,' Dimentio remarked. 'You copied the text in the book down to the letter, down to the most immaculate detail. And yet, it wasn't enough.' He looked up at the king.

'You will leave now, without another glance,' the king reminded.

'Hmm...' Dimentio pretended to think. 'I don't think so.'

'But you said—'

'That,' Dimentio interjected, 'was what I said before. I'm deeply insulted that you would try to fool me with that pathetic copy.' He gave the king a piercing glare, smile still present, and began to advance on the king, ever so slowly, the king retreating at the same pace. 'You know,' Dimentio said. 'I've tried my best to deep my distance from this dimension, but I knew it would come eventually. Now that I'm here, I thought I'd just take my book and leave.' A black ball appeared on his finger, much smaller than the previous one. 'But now that I've found you, I think I'll cause some chaos.'

'N-no!' the king sputtered. 'Stay back!'

'Let us see how well the kingdom will manage without a king to guide them.' Very lightly, Dimentio pressed the ball into the king's head.

Nothing happened at first, but, all of a sudden, the king gave a jerk and began to shake. His heart began pumping erratically, quickly then slowly, his lungs expanding and contracting. Pain burst through him at one moment, then he became numb in another. Dimentio watched as the kings organs went out of control. The king screamed in pain, the noise echoing down the hallway.

'Well, your majesty, I believe I must be off. I do hope you and your son do some catching up. Oh,' he added. 'Tell Queen Jaydes that her good friend Dimentio says hello.' A few guards appeared in the doorway. Dimentio snapped his fingers and a huge explosion sent them across the hall, killing them on impact. He looked down at the dying king, his demented smile broad on his face. 'AH HA HA!' he laughed. 'In a final word of farewell, I say: ciao!' Dimentio snapped his fingers and was sent through the dimensions once more, the final glance of the world being one of destruction as the last bit of the king's life ebbed away from him.

8


	5. Chapter 5: Enemies

Chapter 5: Enemies

Dimentio

Dimentio warped back to the front doors of Castle Bleck, almost trembling with excitement; in all the time he had worked for Count Bleck, the previous owner, he had never even touched the dark book, though such thoughts had definitely crossed his mind. Now he had it in his possession.

He giggled. 'The Dark Pronosticus is finally mine!' he beamed. He regarded it, slid his finger down its spine; he could feel the dark energy flowing from it, radiating off of it like heat. It curled around his fingertips, and as it touched him it sent small bursts of power coursing through him; no wonder Count Bleck had never let anyone touch the book; anyone else who did could most likely have struck him down then and there. Dimentio looked up at the door. He placed his hand on it and pushed it open...

To be met with the distrusting gaze of Fawful.

Dimentio nearly jumped out of his skin, though he was still smiling. 'Fawful!' he exclaimed. 'What are you doing back?'

'I had the completion of my mission,' he said slowly. Dimentio was slightly surprised at this; Fawful worked faster than he had thought. Fawful held up his hand in front of his face, palm facing downward, a holographic message emitting from his ring. It said "TRACKING SIGNAL LOST." 'Where did you have leaving to?' Fawful demanded. 'Why did I have the losing of you?'

'Ah yes!' Dimentio exclaimed, making up his excuse as he spoke. 'I went to make sure you weren't getting into any trouble with your mission.' Fawful didn't look convinced. 'Being a wanted Bean, I thought you might need assistance.'

'Why did I not have the seeing of you?'

Dimentio smiled. 'Now you see me...' He faded into invisibility. 'Now you don't.' He went back into the visible spectrum.

'And the question of finality,' Fawful said. 'Why did your device of tracking cease to have functioning?'

'Ah yes, I'm not sure why that happened,' Dimentio lied. 'It shorted out shortly after you left, and I was going to ask you about it as soon as the mission was over.'

Fawful stared at Dimentio for a moment. He held out his hand. 'Be giving me the ring,' he instructed. Dimentio took it off and gave it to Fawful. Fawful noticed the book Dimentio was holding.

'What is that book being?' he asked.

'Oh this? Nothing much, just a small novel to pass the time.' Fawful shrugged and started to walk to his room, Dimentio following. 'So,' Dimentio asked. 'Might I ask about any tasty information you've acquired on your mission?'

Fawful nodded. He pressed a button on his ring and a map came up. 'I had the making of a map of the castle,' he replied. He scrolled through all of the floors; it was very neat and detailed, and would definitely help them. 'Also,' Fawful added. 'Someone had the telling of me that the Kingdom of Mushrooms will be having a party for the celebration of Halloween.'

Dimentio looked at Fawful. 'A Halloween party?' he repeated.

'Yes.'

'Hmm...' he mused. 'Everyone will attend, I'll imagine.'

'I would not have doubt.'

Dimentio chuckled. 'This could work out to our advantage.'

They came to Fawful's room and opened the door. Dimentio saw various projects strewn out on various tables, tools scattered around, excess materials littering the floor. As they walked to a space on the table free of clutter, Dimentio spied various inventions, including several models of ray guns, smooth, silver balls that Dimentio guessed were explosives, and an odd contraption Dimentio was clueless about. It was a transparent, dark blue dome-like thing with yellow rings around the ends. Two red bars of metal were protruding from the bottom end, wires sticking out erratically. Fawful placed the ring on the table and grabbed some tools, beginning to work on it.

'What is your plan being?' Fawful inquired, as he began to cut open the ring.

'Well,' Dimentio replied. 'Here's what we do: you and I need revenge on the Mario Brothers, as well as Princess Peach and King Bowser.' Fawful nodded. 'I think we need to capture them one at a time.'

'Would it not have more easiness if we were to capture them all in one attempt?' Fawful questioned. The ring snapped open, exposing the wiring and inner workings. 'Ah,' he said. 'The wiring has had the frying. I will need to have the replacing of it, with haste.' He took out the burnt section and grabbed some materials.

'That wouldn't be very fun, now would it?' Fawful looked at him like he was crazy. Dimentio's smile grew, and Fawful immediately averted his gaze. 'You see Fawful, I have a different...style than you may be used to. Most villains like to get the job done and call it a day. _I_ on the other hand, like to do things with a touch of flair added to them, something to make it worthy of being called a plot. Abducting them one at a time will build tension. Not only will they be at our mercy, but those who are next will be in turmoil, wondering every waking moment when they will be taken, and who is doing the taking. They will be nervous, scared.' Dimentio's smile grew. 'Do you recall Luigi?' he asked.

Fawful nodded. 'Yes.'

'Imagine how he will react to such mental trauma.'

Fawful's mouth curled into a wide, toothy grin. He remembered Luigi; he was always shaking in his boots at danger. It would be torture for him to wait for the villain—or _villains_—to strike. It would be a perfect punishment for his actions. 'I am liking the way you think,' Fawful said. He cackled evilly. 'Ha ha ha! Our might will rain down upon them like many hissing drops of the rain that is acidic!'

Dimentio raised an eyebrow. 'A simile,' he noted. 'It would seem that we have more in common.'

Fawful attached a wire and placed some circuits in the ring, then closed the ring's chrome casing. He pressed a button on his ring's holograph and it searched for a moment. The words "TRACKING SIGNAL FOUND" popped up. A ring sounded from Fawful's tracker, then a beep from Dimentio's, and the light on Dimentio's ring lit up with a light hum. 'There!' Fawful beamed. 'It has success!' He gave it to Dimentio, who put it on. 'Who will we have the abducting of first?' Fawful asked.

Dimentio smiled. 'Someone who doesn't stand a chance, and has been failing in everything he's ever done since he's been born, I expect.' He grinned widely, and Fawful grinned with him, knowing the answer. 'Lord Bowser, King of the Koopas.'

It had been painstakingly easy. All Dimentio had to do was go to Bowser's Castle, shielded by invisibility, knock out a Koopa, and pass on the Halloween party information on to another minion, talking behind the Koopa. The information circulated, and Bowser knew about it in no time. He said he was going to kidnap the Princess at the party, because she'd be distracted with all the "party stuff." It worked perfectly. Dimentio warped back.

'You are being finished so soon?' Fawful said, amazed.

'Yes. Fooling those pathetic Koopas is like taking candy from a baby: easy.' He snapped his fingers and a piece of candy appeared in his hands. 'This,' he said, 'is from a baby.' Fawful snickered.

'Can I be having the candy?' Fawful asked. Dimentio tossed him the candy and floated to his room. 'Where are you leaving to?' Fawful asked.

'Just some late night reading,' he said. 'The party's in two days, so I suggest you pick out a costume.'

Fawful gave him an incredulous stare. 'You mean...' he started. 'We are going to have the _attending_ of the party?'

Dimentio snickered. 'Why yes! Why would you think otherwise?'

'I am not wanting to be attending the party!' Fawful argued.

'Fawful,' Dimentio sighed. 'We will have better surveillance opportunities if we're actually _part_ of the party. Besides,' he added. 'This gives me a chance to dress up.'

'You are always having the dressing up...' Fawful pouted.

Dimentio regarded his jester attire. 'Ah. Well, dress up in something _different_, at least.'

Dimentio closed the door ever so slowly in his room. His heart was pounding and he was sweating. He sat down on the chair at his desk, which gleamed purple off the light of his lamp. He placed his new treasure, the Dark Prognosticus, the dark, prophetic book that predicted the end of all worlds, on the desk, the cover shining, casting the refection of Dimentio's black and white mask on its surface. His smile, which was normally full of a creepy, sadistic glee, was now filled with more excitement than it had ever shown before. It was finally his..._finally_.

He ran his finger along it, opening it to the first page. He read the first words:

_The owner of this book is destined for misfortune._

Dimentio chuckled; misfortune was right. The entire Tribe of Darkness, who had owned the book for centuries, had been wiped out in a single moment. Count Bleck had owned the book up until the end of the Chaos Heart Incident...

Dimentio frowned; he didn't know what had happened to him. Even the kingdom he had just visited had been thrown into chaos, and it had held the book for only...

'A year,' Dimentio breathed. He had been a whole year since Dimentio had been killed and sent to the Underwhere, thrown into that accursed Shayde body. Yes, only a year had they held it. Dimentio, however...Dimentio was sure that he'd be a different case entirely. He'd be the one to hold it and survive. He knew it.

As he contemplated these thoughts, a jolt of energy passed through him, shaking him to the core.

Dimentio jumped several feet in the air. 'GAH!' he yelled. He tried to float, but his powers had been disabled. He fell back on his chair, which tipped over backwards, hurling him to the ground. 'Ow...' he groaned. He struggled back to a standing position, tumbling over his feet. He sat back down in his chair, feeling a numb feeling he hadn't noticed before gradually recede. _What...what was that? _he thought. The Prognosticus...it had never done something like that before...

The book hummed with power. It almost sounded like a warning to the jester's ears. A warning of what though? The only thing the book could possibly sense was someone who had previously been of importance to it. Someone who didn't deserve to own it... Dimentio's eyes shot open; he knew the answer already.

'Count Bleck...' he breathed. 'He's alive...' The book hummed louder. That was enough confirmation for Dimentio. He got up, adjusted his mask, dusted of his clothes, and snapped his fingers, wondering which dimension the Count would lead him to.

As soon as he emerged, he threw himself into invisibility. He couldn't let himself be seen, not by the Count. There was no way Bleck was stronger than he, but he just couldn't risk it. Besides, for all he knew, Bleck had had one whole year of training that Dimentio was lacking. The odds weren't in his favour.

The distinct energy that Bleck emanated was like a powerful smell to Dimentio; easy to distinguish and difficult to ignore. He followed it, shielded by invisibility. Looking around, he was shocked at where he had ended up. The landscape, with its beautifully green hills and fields glowing in the light of the full moon; the architecture, with its unique, fungicidal design; its citizens, the tiny, mushroom-topped Toads. There was no mistaking it. He was in the Mushroom Kingdom.

'Interesting...' he mused. Out of every dimension in existence, his enemy reappeared here: the homeland of his _other_ enemies. What rotten luck.

Only a few minutes of flying brought him to where the energy was the strongest. He floated into the shelter of a large tree and sat on a branch. He stared down at the small house in the clearing. It had only one floor, and was fairly long. The exterior of the walls was a dull yellow colour, while the roof was brick red. A green door was put up at the front, a curved sign labelled "MARIO" was mounted above it. A light hung above the sign. The house rested on a light brown, wooden deck.

So this was it. The house of his greatest adversary. A little bit of a letdown, really. He expected something more...expensive from the saviour of all worlds. Then again, what could you really expect from two hairy men who dressed up as plumbers? Not much.

The door swung open and the Mario Brothers walked out, the light above them illuminating their features. How incredible, that these shaggy, pathetic looking men could beat him. That didn't matter anymore though. He had a different plan, and it was going to work this time. No more hiding. No more letting everyone else do the work. This was all him. He was going to create his perfect world, or die trying. Again. The two of them walked down the steps and looked back. Worry lined both of their faces as a bedraggled looking man staggered after them.

Dimentio's smile, which had _still_been on his face, twitched as he regarded the individual. He wore the same multicoloured cape, the same gold rimmed monocle, had the same white gloves, and the same tall white top hat, decorated with a large, blue ribbon. The same jewel-topped scepter. What was different about him, was _him_. When Dimentio had last seen him, he had worn a sinister grin. The eye not covered by his monocle had glowed a bright, demonic orange. His legs, if he had had any, had never been visible, and the same went for his arms. Now, his eyes were both yellow, in huge contrast to his dark blue skin, which hadn't changed at all. His cape hung loosely back over his shoulders, the inside still shining with radiant stars. His arms and legs were visible, and were covered by white sleeves and pant legs. He no longer wore his grin. Instead, he had an overwhelmed, exhausted frown. He wasn't Count Bleck anymore. He reverted back to how he once had been. He was now Lord Blumiere, former prince of the Tribe of Darkness.

'Thank you again,' he muttered. Dimentio snickered; where was his confident tone now? 'I can't believe you're helping me, after all the evil I've done...'

'You saved the worlds in the end,' Mario assured. 'You did the right thing, and that's better than all the wrong ones.'

'I suppose...' He turned to Luigi. 'How did it go?' he asked.

'I've sent out the letters into the Return Pipe now,' he answered. 'Merlon will mail them soon. I wouldn't be surprised if they turned up any minute.'

'Thank you, again. I've waited for a long time to see how they were doing.' He looked up towards the house. 'How is Timpani?' Another twitch from Dimentio; so, he had brought his love with him. Interesting.

'She's doing just fine. Better than you, at least,' Mario replied, noting Blumiere's tired expression.

'Good to hear.' He sighed. 'I don't know what happened...one minute, we were in our own world, literally, and the next...' He waved his hands. 'We were here. I can only guess it was a drastic shift in the dimensions that caused such a thing.' A third twitch. Dimentio and Fawful returning from the dead...that would work. He had inadvertently brought back his enemy. Darn.

A moment of silence passed. Then...a squeal.

'COOOUUNNNT!' came the scream. A small, green girl flipped into the dimension, knocking the poor man nearly off his feet. 'Count! You're back! I don't believe it!'

'It's...' he gasped over her crushing hug. 'It's been quite a long time Mimi...'

Dimentio felt his heart skip a beat. He quickly drew his eyes away from the petite girl; he needed to analyze the situation, not one person. This was difficult, however...

'"A long time?" Are you kidding? Where'd you go to?'

'I—' he started, but was interrupted by another greeting.

''Ey, it's the Count, back in 'is prime!' A burly Scottish man, even clad in a plaid kilt and shirt, flipped in. 'Well...not exactly in 'is prime, but still! It's good 'ta see ya, Blecky boy!' He pounded his shoulder.

'It's good to see you too, O'Chunks,' Blumiere said.

'You didn't answer my question yet, Count!' Mimi whined. 'Where'd you go?'

'Well, I—'

'Count...'

They all looked to the source of the voice. They found a small woman, wearing a white, uniform looking dress and black pants. Arched, cat's eye glasses rested on her nose and her pink hair was put into a bun. Her skin was identical to Blumiere's.

'Nastasia...' Blumiere breathed.

'Count, I...' She walked over to him. 'I...you have no idea...I've waited so...it felt so...' She broke down and started to cry tears of joy. 'I'm so happy to finally see you again!' she sobbed. 'I can't believe you're back!'

'It's really good to see you Count,' Mimi reinforced.

'Don't call me that.'

'Huh?'

'"Count." Don't call me Count Bleck anymore. My name is Blumiere, and that's how I'd like it to stay.'

The former minions looked at each other, then back at the man. 'Okay Cou—Blumiere. Whatever you want.'

'Thank you.'

Nastasia looked up. 'Yeah...whatever we call you, we're still your loyal minions...'

'Enough of that. I've called you minions for too long. I'm glad to finally call you friends.' He smiled.

The door opened again, and a woman stepped out. She was fair skinned and of medium height. Her eyes were emerald green, and her long hair was a nice shade of orange. She wore a white dress with green shoes, to match her eyes. This was the woman Blumiere had fallen in love with. This was Lady Timpani.

'Is there a reunion going on here?' she asked jokingly. 'I wouldn't have guessed.'

'Everyone,' Blumiere said. 'This is my wife. Timpani.'

'Well golly!' Mimi exclaimed. 'It's really nice to finally see what you really look like, instead of that little butterfly you used to be.'

'Hello Mimi, it's been a while.' She shook her hand.

'Oy!' O'Chunks lumbered up. 'So this be the lass 'ol Blumiere's been goin' on 'bout for so long!'

'O'Chunks!' Timpani smiled and shook his hand. 'Looking as...er...chunky as ever?'

O'Chunks blushed. 'Well I should 'ope so!'

'Um...' Nastasia, now done with crying, walked slowly up to Timpani. 'Um...hello...'

'Hi.' She frowned. 'I don't think we've met.'

'Yeah...my name's Nastasia. The Count...Blumiere's talked a lot about you...'

'Hi Nastasia. Nice to meet you.'

Nastasia looked Timpani in the eyes. 'I hope you and Blumiere have a happy life together...' She gave a weak smile. 'I hope we can all be friends.'

'Don't worry, we can.'

'Hey,' Luigi said. 'There's a Halloween party coming up in a few days, right? Would you like to come?' They all gave affirmatives.

'You mean I get to dress up?' Mimi gasped. 'That'll be awesome!'

Timpani laughed. 'It's nice to finally be on the same side for once.'

'Wait...' O'Chunks said. ''Ow can we be on the same side? We aren't fighin' anyone anymore, right?'

A small silence took over the group. 'That's true...' Blumiere said. 'There's no sides anymore. There's no one we need to fight. Not anymore.'

Dimentio had seen enough. He warped out. So, the Count was back, and more of a do-gooder than ever. All the minions were back...even Mimi...this was concerning. He never put Bleck and the others into his plan. Though...he would finally have complete vengeance, with them all in one dimension. All those who thwarted his plans and destroyed his dream would be put in their places. He snickered. Finally. There was one thing that he couldn't help but laugh at though: they thought there was no one to fight against.

How more wrong could they be?

9


	6. Chapter 6: Halloween

Chapter 6: Halloween

Dimentio

Dimentio looked at his costume. It fit him perfectly. How interesting. He would've at least expected to have needed_ some _magical altering, considering it hadn't been his to begin with, and he had never worn it once. Oh well.

'Fawful,' he called. 'Are you ready yet?'

'Fawful is not coming out!' came a shrill voice from the next room.

Dimentio sighed. 'And why ever not?'

'Fawful is not liking the costume! It has the itchiness!'

Dimentio chuckled. 'Oh, the _sacrifices_ you must make for vengeance Fawful!' He snapped his fingers and the door swung open. Fawful walked out, a scowl etched upon his face.

Dimentio almost died laughing right then and there. Fawful's costume consisted of a white tank top and a skirt, held in place by a red belt. A big, golden button held a red cape on his back and white gloves covered his hands. He wore white shoes with tights going up to the knees. A sword (most likely fake) dangled from his waist and a shiny yellow wig rested on his head, the hair going down to his neck.

Dimentio fought back a chuckle. 'And what are you supposed to be?' Dimentio asked.

Fawful growled. 'I am being the Prince that is being named "Peasley" from my home kingdom of Beanbean,' he answered.

'Ah.'

'And what are you being?'

Dimentio once again regarded his costume. 'I think I'll keep that information to myself for now,' he answered. Fawful shrugged. 'Oh, and I see one major flaw with that costume.'

'And what would that have being?' Fawful demanded.

'Your glasses. Take them off.'

'What? No of the waying!'

'You're going to attract unwanted attention to yourself. Take them off.'

'But then Fawful will have the blindness and crashing into things!'

Dimentio snapped his fingers and Fawful's eyes snapped shut, wet with tears. He opened them, then closed them again, blinking madly. He opened them once more.

'What did you have doing?' Fawful yelled. 'I do not have the seeing!' Dimentio wasted no words, just plucked the glasses off of Fawful's head. After a few more blinks, Fawful's eyes widened. 'I...I have sight!' he exclaimed. 'How...?'

'Contact lenses,' Dimentio explained. 'Your glasses would've been obvious, like a simple, fake mustache on a mediocre secret agent! Now you are absolutely disguised!' He bowed.

'Fawful is not liking these lenses of contactness!' He blinked some more.

'You'll get used to them.' Fawful looked unconvinced. 'It's only for tonight.'

Fawful, though still blinking, suddenly looked ecstatic. 'Tonight we are springing the trap for the Bowser, yes?'

Dimentio grinned devilishly. 'Yes,' he hissed. 'Tonight we begin our show! Tonight, the first phase of our plan commences!' He stared down at Fawful with intensity. 'You remember the plan?'

'I say to you, yes!'

'Then we leave soon. I have something to look into first.'

Fawful looked like a little child who was waiting for Christmas. 'Fawful will be going now to begin the plan of wickedness!' He flipped out.

Dimentio immediately went into his room and shut the door, taking the Dark Prognosticus out from it drawer. He opened it to the first page, seeing the warning message written on it. He flipped to the exact middle of it, ignoring the prophecies written in it. He wouldn't need to pay any heed to them anymore; they had gone and passed. They had been wrong. They had failed him. He pressed his finger against the split in the pages, sending a pulse of dark magic down it, into the ancient paper. The book shuttered for a moment, then stopped. Dimentio watched as all the words in the book faded and leaked away, leaving it blank. As he flipped through the pages, he was met with more blank pages. Everything was gone. Everything that had been written was only a memory. He flipped back to the first page. The warning was still there. Misfortune would befall anyone to own this book...no matter what happened to the words on it. He felt the dark power emanating from it...it was stronger, like something had been removed. Of course, something _had_ been removed. He flipped to the second page and took a pen out from his drawer, letting dark magic seeping into the ink. Slowly, he wrote a single sentence on the page in neat, curled handwriting:

_The seal on this book has been broken._

He closed the book and put it away, along with the pen. He looked in the mirror to see his reflection's hands creeping up to its mask, which bore a frown. Dimentio didn't like taking off his mask. In his opinion, he looked horribly ugly.

_Ugly..._ he thought as his hands gripped the edges of the mask. _Just like the rest of the worlds..._

Dimentio appeared in front of the castle grounds. He touched ground and started walking. The party had evidently started, evidence of which could be found all over the place. Pumpkins, Jack 'O Lanterns, giant, blow up creatures...everything you'd expect. The castle itself was also decorated accordingly, with curtains and cobwebs and other stuff. A large, orange banner exclaiming "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" was hung across the front doors. Many Toads, Koopas, and other guests wandered the grounds, all dressed up in costumes, some scary, some not. None of them were as scary as Dimentio normally was, of course. They were all just cheap monster imitations, nothing more. But the Toads could have their fun. When he was done with it, they wouldn't be able to have fun ever again. Actually, what was he thinking? Of course they would! It would be _his _fun. His fun in his perfect world...

'Hello!'

Dimentio turned to be met with the face of Fawful. 'Ah yes, hello. How goes with the mission?'

Fawful blinked a few times. 'I had the putting of the traps in the places that you had instructing. The Bowser will be ours!'

'Perfect,' Dimentio breathed. 'It'll all begin soon. Scope out the castle. We can keep in touch with our trackers.'

Fawful nodded. They opened the doors and stepped into the light. Fawful looked at Dimentio for a moment, surprised, and then nodded. 'Be having the luck of goodness!' He took off.

Dimentio stood there, unsure of what to do. Nothing could be done until Bowser showed up to capture Princess Peach, which wouldn't be for a while, he was sure. He went over, poured a glass of punch, and sat down, a small grin on his face. Tonight would be interesting. He took a sip, wondering if Blumiere and the rest would show up. He wondered how Blumiere would take to Dimentio's presence. He wasn't exactly hoping to be unnoticed...

It was a while before Princess Peach came out and announced the start of the festivities, all dressed up in black, like when the Shadow Queen possessed her. It was short and sweet, and people arrived quickly after that. Dimentio spotted Fawful a few times, walking around unnoticed. Because of the Halloween theme, no one suspected them. There were also a fair amount of Beanish folk in the castle, so Fawful fit right in with the crowd. Music blasting, people dancing, Dimentio had to admit, this was fun, even just sitting amongst them. It was certainly something better than the Underwhere.

'Hi!' called an annoying, shrill voice. A small Toad child walked up to him. Dimentio took a sip of punch, ignoring him. 'Nice costume! What is it?' When Dimentio didn't answer, the Toad changed topic. 'I'm a vampire! See my cape?' A tiny, black cape hung over his back. Dimentio took another sip. 'Are you going to tell me what you are?'

Dimentio looked at the Toad. How naive they all were...all of them. This one had red spots and tiny, black eyes, and was indeed clad in a vampire attire. He had no idea the danger he was in...what everyone was in. Dimentio stared at him for a single moment, then smiled. It was the kind of smile that made people normally think he was crazy, the kind that just oozed evil and made everybody shiver with discomfort. The kind that stretched from ear to ear. His yellow eye glinted in the light. 'Oh _yes_ my little friend, of course. I am...' He leaned in closer, smile broadening. 'Your worst nightmare.' He set his hand on the Toad's head. A moment later, the Toad ran away screaming. Dimentio cackled softly. All it took for some fun was to cause some visions. That poor boy would have nightmares for a long time. He leaned back in his chair, then immediately jerked forward as the front doors opened and some familiar people walked in.

Mario and Luigi walked in front, Mario dressed as the yellow clad Wario, and Luigi dressed as the sinister Mr. L. Dimentio chuckled; he wondered if Luigi knew that he himself was Mr. L...if _any _of them did. They obviously must have seen how similar Luigi looked to him, and told him, but none of them seemed to have known that Mr. L had in fact been Luigi the entire time. They turned around and gestured for some other people to enter. Who else came in but Blumiere and co, all dressed up in their own costumes. Blumiere himself was dressed as Count Dracula of all things. Dimentio couldn't believe it; he is freed from being Count Bleck, and Blumiere dresses up as the thing that bares the closest resemblance to him, though in a much blacker colour. He also lacked his monocle and scepter. The rest of them were dressed up as well. O'Chunks was in white robes, like the Romans used to wear, no doubt to resemble Hercules with that enormous bulk of his. Nastasia was dressed also as a vampire, tiny fangs sticking out of her mouth. That was, however, the _only_ attempt she had done to try and participate. Dimentio snickered; talk about a lack of Halloween spirit. Mimi was dressed in dark robes, in large contrast to O'Chunk's white ones, and her head was covered in hissing snakes, making her look like the Gorgon, Medusa. Timpani was present as well, dressed up as Princess Peach of all things. The dress was exactly like the ones the Princess usually wore, and her hair was dyed yellow and styled like Peach's too. Dimentio wondered if the dress was _actually_ one of the Princess', and not just a well made imitation.

They all walked in, taking in the sight. None of them were accustomed to things like this, and looked around in awe. Well, most of them anyway. Nastasia looked bored. Actually, she looked like someone _trying_ to look bored. Dimentio saw through her act though, as living with her had taught him. She was clearly glad to be there, but just wanted to keep up her secretary's demeanour.

'Well,' said Mario. 'Here we are!' He gestured to the crowd. 'Our Halloween party.'

'What do you guys think?' Luigi asked.

They all looked around. Blumiere smiled. 'It looks fun,' he said. 'Though...I've never been to one of these.' The rest of the crew admitted the same thing.

'Well that doesn't mean you can't have fun,' Mario remarked.

Timpani laughed. 'This all looks so fun!' She turned to Blumiere. 'Why don't we explore a bit on our own?' She took his hand and dragged him off before he could answer.

Someone looked Mimi's way and waved. O'Chunks nudged her on the shoulder. ''Oy, Mimi! That lad over there's wavin' at ya!'

Mimi turned and waved back. The boy gave a shriek and instantly turned to stone, a horrified expression on his face. Mimi gasped. 'Oh, golly!' she exclaimed. 'I guess I overdid it on the costume!' A puff of purple smoke engulfed her and the snakes turned to fake imitations.

'I'm gonna go and play some of the games around here, okay?' She took off.

O'Chunks turned to Nastasia. 'Eh...would ya like ta have a look around wit' me?'

Nastasia sighed. 'Um...okay.' She walked off, a nervous O'Chunks tailing behind her.

Dimentio took another sip. The gang was all here...even him, and they didn't even know it. He wanted nothing more than to confront them, but...better to let things run their course. He pressed a button on his tracker and an image of Fawful appeared on the screen.

'Yes?' Fawful asked.

'Have you seen Bowser anywhere here?'

'No, not yet.'

'Ah. Well in any case, the Mario Brothers have arrived, as well as some...interesting guests. Keep a close eye on all five of them, but do not act unless I say so.'

'Since when are you being the boss of Fawful?'

'Since I became the mastermind behind this plot.' Fawful grumbled. 'If they do anything suspicious, tell me. Particularly the dark one with the lady dressed like Princess Peach.'

Fawful nodded. 'Fawful understands.' He gave Dimentio a look. 'What are you doing?'

'Hm?'

'Fawful is wandering and scouting and watching! What tasks of difficulty are you doing?'

'Ah.' Dimentio gave it some thought. 'I am scouting too, you know. Don't complain.' Fawful gave a doubtful look and terminated the transmission. Dimentio took another sip of punch; as if Fawful could ever doubt his vigilance!

Fawful

Fawful trudged down the halls, ignoring the greetings from passersby. When in the _world_ would that irritating Koopa King arrive to spoil the party? The music was too loud, the people were too friendly, and the costume was too itchy. And these contact lenses were bugging him. He rubbed tears from his eyes and scratched his head. Dimentio...that clown really bugged him. It was something in the way he spoke...in the way he _acted_. It was like everything was a game to him. He took nothing serious and always spoke with this sarcastic, mysterious tone, and he always seemed to know something that Fawful didn't, like he was always on top, like he knew everything. It was concerning...Fawful didn't know Dimentio. He didn't know his past, but Fawful was sure Dimentio had done some things that he definitely shouldn't be proud of, but was. He needed to be careful, or Dimentio would stab him in the back at the most opportune moment. He was sure of it.

Dimentio had said to watch the new arrivals. Particularly the one with the lady dressed like Princess Peach. He must be dangerous. Fawful realized he didn't actually _see_ them enter the building, so he didn't know what they looked like. He figured they must look very different from the normal people you saw around the Mushroom Kingdom, so, with that in his mind, he took off to look.

'So...you dunk your head in and get an apple out with your teeth?'

'Yep!'

'...how strange...'

Fawful had found the girl in the Princess Peach costume quickly. He regarded the dark man with interest, skulking in the shadows. The two, which he had heard were called "Blumiere" and "Timpani," seemed very...ignorant of everything that would be common knowledge for everyone here. They didn't know anything, which meant that they must have been from a different dimension. Fawful figured that the rest of them would be as well. He frowned; neither of them looked dangerous at all. On the contrary, both of them looked unable to hurt a fly. He snickered as Blumiere stuck his head in the bucket and immediately pulled it out, coughing on a mouthful of water.

'...so, I ran down the hill and yelled "Charge!" and all of the cowardly buggers turned and ran! All of 'em!'

'Yes, yes, O'Chunks, I'm sure you were very valiant...'

'And they didn't show their thevin' faces again! I gave 'em a chunkin' they never—'

Fawful almost fell asleep. This idiot's stories were so _boring_ it was unfair. And the poor woman listening to him. Fawful actually, honestly, felt _sorry_ for her. Him! Sorry! It was unbelievable how stupid he looked! To Fawful, who considered himself very intelligent, this man wasn't fit to be in the same _kingdom_ as him. The other one though...he looked at her. She seemed to be the same species as that Blumiere. Interesting. Fawful wondered why he picked a human, when someone of his own kind was right there. He never would understand people. The woman, named "Nastasia," adjusted her glasses.

'Um...O'Chunks?'

'Yeah?'

'I, uh, need to go for a moment, be back soon.' She got up and hurried off, a very irritated look on her face.

O'Chunks scratched his head. 'Eh...? Wonder what tha' was about...? Must be one o' those "girl things..."' He shrugged.

Fawful moved on before he could dwell on what kind of "girl things" O'Chunks could be referring to.

Fawful walked along one of the higher areas of the castle, hoping to get a good vantage point. According to the map he had installed in his tracking device, this was the area where he could see most. A few people had attempted to make friendly conversation with him, but he didn't have time, nor did he want to in the slightest. If Fawful could list one thing about himself that he was lacking in, it was friendliness. He didn't care though. One didn't become the Great Cackletta's best pupil, and later, an infamous villain, by being _nice._ Fawful's heart panged as he thought of Cackletta; she had been like a mother to him, though he would never admit it, despite all the punishments and lightning zaps and groundings. He had been her greatest pupil, her loyal toady...and then it was gone, with the destruction of her soul. He would never see her again.

He forced his mind to go back to the task at hand. No use dwelling on her right now...he needed to find that last guest. He had seen the rest of them several times, but not the last one. He peered around...and saw someone, though only the back of her. She was small, about his size, and had a green body and hair. She had a costume of a woman with snakes for hair. He squinted, rubbing more tears from his eyes. His contact lenses weren't bothering him as much, but...they were still annoying. He missed his glasses; _they_ didn't make his eyes water every few seconds. It was strange without the familiar weight on his face.

The girl turned, and Fawful's heart skipped a beat.

His mouth hung open for a moment, before he snapped it closed again. He was certain the girl hadn't seen him, but...why did he suddenly want her to? Something about her was...shaking. He was shaking. What in the world was wrong with him? He had never felt anything like this before. This was too alien...he didn't like it...no, he did, or...did he? That girl...he needed to know her name. It was such a powerful desire...who was she? He needed to know! Shaking, he pressed the "CONTACT" button on his tracker and Dimentio's face popped up.

'Yes?'

'W-who is the girl of greenness?' he demanded.

'Hm?'

'The girl of greenness who is wearing the costume of the woman of snakeheadedness!'

'Ah. That would be Mimi.'

Fawful almost fainted. Mimi...what a nice name...

Dimentio smirked. 'Why ever so? Have you taken a _liking_ to her?'

Fawful turned as red as his green face could allow and glared at him through the screen. 'Fawful has not taking a "liking" to her!'

Dimentio snickered. 'I should hope not. Besides,' he added. 'She wouldn't be into you much anyway.' The hologram vanished.

Mimi

Mimi walked around the hall, amazed even still. This castle was enormous, and there were so many games and such good music and everything! She had never been to a castle before. Well, if you didn't count Castle Bleck of course. That had been such a nice place. She had loved it and called it home. No castle, no matter how big and amazing and expensive looking, could ever replace Castle Bleck. She missed it...though she pretty much lived at Merlee's Mansion now, which was okay, but a little creepy at times.

She yawned. She was tired. She couldn't believe it, with all this music and stuff going on, but she was actually tired.

'Mimi! There you are!' Blumiere are Timpani walked over to her.

'Oh!' Mimi exclaimed. 'Hello guys, what's up?'

'The party,' Timpani answered.

Blumiere almost collapsed. 'Somebody kill me...' he moaned.

Mimi stared at him. 'What's with the Count?'

'I don't know. I don't think I've been rushing him around _that_ much...' Blumiere just sighed.

Nastasia and O'Chunks walked up to them. Nastasia ran to Mimi. 'Mimi!' she breathed.

'What?' Mimi asked.

'O'Chunks has been telling me stories of him for the past _hour._ Help. Me!'

'Oh wow, how in the worlds did you survive Nassy? O'Chunks' stories are always so _boring._'

Mimi spotted someone out of the corner of her eye. He looked...different. His costume was interesting. It was like a king's, elegantly made and it set off Mimi's "expensive clothes" senses like crazy. It was very dark, with blacks and reds and some white frills, studded with some, weird jewels here and there. An extravagant cape flowed down his back, making him look just that little but more regal. What really made Mimi look at him was his face. It was human, which was something odd in itself, considering the only humans around were the Mario Bros. and Peach, as well as Timpani. His skin was incredibly pale, like he didn't get near enough sunlight as he grew up. His hair was longish, for a boy's, and came down halfway to his shoulders. It was split exactly in half, the left side of his hair being a _very_ light white, and the right being pure black. His eye on the left side was a bright yellow, just like Blumiere's, which looked odd on his human face. What was even odder was his right eye, which was a kind of dull, depressing grey. Normally, Mimi lost herself in people eyes (particularly those of hot guys), but that one eye just didn't allow her too, almost like it pushed her away. There was no life in it at all, which was in direct contrast with the left one. Something really freaked Mimi out about him...it was his smile. It was almost a smirk, like everything was under his control, like he knew everything...it was confidence.

Mimi's heart jumped as the boy looked her directly in the eyes, his smile twitching for but a moment. Something about him was so familiar, so...concerning, haunting...but she just couldn't put her finger on it...

'Count...um, I mean, Blumiere?' she asked, tugging on his sleeve.

He looked up at her. 'Yes, what is it Mimi?'

She pointed at the boy. 'Who's that guy over there?'

Blumiere looked at the strange individual. 'I...don't know...but...'

The former Count's eyes widened in shock. His entire body quivered and his mouth dropped open.

'Count?' Mimi gasped. Everyone looked at him. 'What's wrong?'

He froze for a moment, then his face changed to anger. He got up and started to walk over to the boy. The stranger looked in his direction, and _smiled. _Blumiere reached him, brought his fist back, and knocked him off his chair, punch spilling everywhere. The entire company gasped in surprise.

'Count!' Nastasia cried. 'What're you doing?'

Blumiere ignored her. He picked up the (still smiling) boy by the scruff of his neck and stared him in the eyes.

'Who are you?' he demanded. 'And how do you know my father?'

Mimi's heart jumped again. Blumiere's...father? The king of the Tribe of Darkness? How could his guy possibly know about that? Who...who was he?

The boy snickered. 'Why hello Blumiere, it _has_ been quite a while! I must say, I'm very surprised to see you. I would've thought you died after that little incident last year. You and your little _love._'

Blumiere stared at him, stony faced. 'Who are you?' he repeated.

Another snicker from the stranger. 'My, my, you don't recognize me? Honestly, I'm hurt. Ah ha ha!'

Mimi's blood turned cold. That laugh...she knew that laugh. It was a laugh that had taunted her as a snarky comment was made about her dress, or as a very embarrassing excerpt from her diary was read for all to hear. It was a laugh that was made as Nastasia had been brought almost to death...as the Count was taken away from them...and as all worlds would meet their ends...

'Though, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised,' the boy said. Mimi shuddered; his voice was so haunting. 'You've never...none of you have ever seen me without...' He grinned savagely. 'My _mask._'

Horrible, chilling realization gripped every one of them. Blumiere's eyes widened, and he let go. 'D-Dimentio?' he shuddered. 'You're...you're alive?'

Dimentio grinned again. 'Yessssss...how does it feel, _Count Bleck_, to see me, in the flesh?'

'Horrible.'

'Good, because I wouldn't expect any less.' He took a few steps back, for some space, dusting himself off. He grinned. 'And you finally get to see my _true_ face,' he added, putting some odd emphasis on the word "true."

'Yes...how disgusting,' Blumiere spat.

Dimentio brushed the hair out of his face. 'I couldn't agree more...' he muttered. 'Humans are so...revolting.' He eyed them all. 'Just like the rest of these pathetic races.' He sighed. '_However_, I really must learn to be more tolerant and less racist. Just because they're all..._imperfect_, doesn`t mean they need to be insulted.'

'I don't know whether to take that as an insult or a complement...' Timpani muttered.

'Why are you here?' Blumiere demanded. 'Why bother showing your face?'

'_Blumiere_! Why can't we all be friends?'

'Because you tried to kill us all!' Mimi shouted.

'Now now, no need to shout—'

'NO NEED TO SHOUT? YOU NEARLY KILL US AND YOU EXPECT US TO BE YOUR _FRIENDS_?'

'Mimi!' Dimentio exclaimed. 'Come now! I assure you, I am completely reformed!'

'...what?'

'Completely reformed,' he repeated.

'There's no way that's true.'

Dimentio laughed, causing them all to cringe at the sound. 'Ah ha ha! And why is that? My plan failed! The Chaos Heart was destroyed! Why bother trying again when I have no hope of victory, no plan to execute?' They all gave him hard looks. 'I've lived with all of you for a long time, and, as much as I really hate to say it, you've all really _grown_ on me!' They all looked relatively unconvinced. 'Oh, and Blumiere...' Blumiere looked at him. 'I'm _sorry_ for almost killing you and your girlfriend and your minions.' He put on a pained expression. Blumiere was quiet. 'Honest,' Dimentio added.

They were all contemplating Dimentio's appearance, when a laugh bellowed through the halls of the castle that no one wanted to hear. Well, no one, except for two sick, twisted villains, that is.

'BWA, HA, HA!'

Dimentio

Bowser's laughter bounced across the halls and cut through the music of the party, which was turned off immediately. Chaos, panic, and disorder immediately overtook everything that was going on. People started screaming and running for the doors, knocking over food, drinks, and furniture in a desperate attempt to escape what they knew would be the Koopa King's inevitable wrath.

'It's Bowser!'

'Run for your lives!'

'Woman and children first!'

The Mario Bros. dashed down the hall, skidding to a stop as they saw Blumiere and co. 'Guys!' Luigi yelled over the noise. 'You need to get out of here!'

'No way!' Mimi yelled. 'We're gonna stay and help!' She turned to the rest of them. 'Right?'

'Absolutely!' Blumiere confirmed. The rest of them nodded an affirmative.

The Bros. looked at Dimentio, confused. 'Who're you?' Mario asked.

Dimentio gave a wicked smile. 'Mario! It's been a while, hasn't it?' Their eyes widened. A large explosion rocked the castle. 'But perhaps catching up is for later.' His smile grew. 'We have a small problem on our hands.' Mario nodded and left without thought. Luigi shot Dimentio a glare and ran off after him. Dimentio's ex-companions left too, to pursue Bowser. Dimentio snickered. _Fools,_ he thought. _This is all according to plan. You'll be next, all of you._

Dimentio pressed a button on his tracker, not reacting in the slightest as another explosion boomed in the distance. An image of an overwhelmed Fawful appeared on the holographic projection.

'The King of Koopas has had arriving!' he shouted.

'I can see,' Dimentio replied.

'Are we having the executing of the plan?'

Dimentio gave a smile. 'Yes. Follow Bowser and spring the traps as he passes them. If I'm right, he'll go in the directions I specified on your map, trying to apprehend the Princess, who of course is in the planned room, thanks to me. Stay out of sight.'

Fawful gave a curt nod. 'I have understanding. Fawful will follow.' He gave a large, toothy grin. 'The revenge of sweetness will be ours for the eating! I HAVE FURY!' The link was terminated before Dimentio could do it himself. Dimentio floated a few feet in the air, cloaking himself in invisibility, then shot off, laughing to himself. This was going to be good.

He rounded a corner and flew forward, catching a quick glimpse of Fawful running towards the source of all the commotion, a _huge_ smile on his crazy little face. A large smash sounded as Mario crashed into the wall, Bowser laughing evilly. He clutched Peach in his claws. As Luigi made to attack, he swung the Princess in front of him. Luigi stopped immediately, and Bowser pulled her aside and blasted him with fire, knocking him several feel backwards, landing with a thud.

'You coward!' Mimi shouted. 'Stop using the Princess as a shield you MEANIE!'

'Bwa ha ha! I'll do whatever I want wimpy, and there's nothing you can do about it!'

Mimi gave a menacing snarl and disappeared in a puff of purple smoke, reappearing as a large, armoured Koopa. 'BRING IT ON!' she shouted.

Bower roared and rushed Mimi, who slammed into him with the force of an angry bull. The two of them interlocked fists, growling and grimacing. Mimi tore her right hand out of Bowser's and punched him full force in the face. He staggered backwards and Peach swayed in his grip. He breathed fire at Mimi and she retreated into her shell. Bowser gave it a forceful kick, which sent it careening into the rest of them. O'Chunks ran at him, but stopped as Bowser put out Peach. Bowser dealt with him easily.

'Ah ha...' Dimentio laughed. 'They can't do anything, because that pathetic damsel's in their way...luckily, I care naught for her safety!' He dropped down in front of Bowser and turned visible, wearing a smug smirk. 'Hello Bowser. I'm going to have to ask that you release the Princess now.'

Bowser looked puzzled. 'Who're you, shrimpy?' he demanded.

Dimentio snickered. 'I'm afraid that's none of your business.' He snapped his fingers and Bowser was thrown off his feet, crashing to the ground, the Princess rolling painfully across the floor, skidding to a halt, groaning. Bowser staggered to his feet and picked up the Princess.

Dimentio advanced on him. 'Now now, don't try to _run away_ Bowser, you'll never escape me. I know this castle probably has many..._hidden passages_, but...you just have no chance at all of success!'

Bowser apparently didn't get the message. He turned and bolted down the hallway at an amazing speed for someone his size and stature, scooping up Peach as he passed her. As he turned a corner, small, metal disks flew into the air, shooting lasers in every direction, before exploding into many pieces. Bowser kept going, pushing through them. Dimentio jumped up, turned invisible again, and shot off after him, eager to see what Fawful had cooked up for him.

Bowser pulled a large painting off the wall, revealing a hidden passage. He went through it, looking a little desperate, and a little irritated; he had never needed to _run away_ when he captured Peach. It normally went the other way around.

Dimentio grinned and laughed; right through the secret passage in the painting...just as planned. Bowser was so predictable it was sad. Well, Fawful was sure to have more traps set for him.

He did. Gases spewed out from the walls. Bowser coughed and wheezed under their effect, eyes watering, lungs burning. Dimentio covered his mouth and squinted; he'd have to talk about this with Fawful after. This was, while creative and effective, far too dangerous to Dimentio, and, as much as he hated to admit it, he was only..._human_...

Bowser went out of the secret passage and turned left, just as expected, seeking an easy escape exit. As Dimentio flew after him, he was Fawful running by as well, a remote control in his hand, wildly pressing buttons while giving chase. More traps popped up, all of equally dangerous nature. Dimentio grinned as he saw the planned point in the castle. He shot right past Bowser and stopped, turned around, and released his invisibility, grinning all the while. He saw Fawful stare at him for a moment, raise his hand up triumphantly, and then bring it down on one of the buttons on his remote. A rod shot and fired a coil out of the top. Dimentio snapped his fingers, causing the Princess to fly out of the Koopa King's grip. The coil wrapped around him tightly. He crashed to the ground, staring up at his assailant. Dimentio slowly walked over to Bowser, a smug smile on his face. Bowser's wide eyes regarded him; who was he?

It all became clear to Bowser in a single instant; one minute, things were as they seemed. The next, Bowser was staring up at the familiar, jester-clad, masked faced, Dimentio, as he had known him before. Bowser would've gasped, but the coil was constricting his lungs somewhat.

Dimentio leaned over and stared straight into Bowser's eyes, laughing softly. 'Hello, _King_ Bowser. So nice to see you once again.' Bowser struggled. Hidden in the shadows from everyone else, Dimentio saw Fawful looking at the both of them, a mad grin on his face. He made a rapid waving motion. 'Oh,' Dimentio added to Bowser, only loud enough for Bowser to hear. 'Your good friend Fawful says hello.' Bowser struggled more, but to no avail. 'Ciao, Bowser, King of the Koopas. Enjoy your stay at Castle Bleck.' Dimentio snapped his fingers and Bowser disappeared. Dimentio laughed again; He and Fawful had prepared a nice, armoured cell in Castle Bleck especially for him.

Everyone came running into the hallway, exhausted and terrified that something had happened to the Princess. At the sight of the Princess lying on the floor, Mario immediately rushed to her, helping her up.

'Peach!' he exclaimed. 'Are you okay?'

She groaned. 'Yes...I'm fine,' she assured.

'Where'd Bowser go?' Luigi wondered.

Dimentio laughed. 'Ah ha ha. I don't think you'll need to worry about him anymore.'

'What did you do?' Mario demanded.

'Our beloved Koopa King is probably wandering some barren dimension on the outskirts of the universe right now. He won't be bothering your little kingdom ever again, that I promise you.' Mario gave Dimentio a look. '_Oh_. Feeling a little sorry for your enemy Mario? That's not a good habit to get into.'

'Bowser's not completely evil,' Mario countered. 'He just has goals and will do anything to accomplish them. Like...getting Peach to love him.'

'That's his motive? Love?' Dimentio nearly scowled, but didn't quite lose him smile. 'Pathetic!'

They all glared at Dimentio in some form or another. 'Love isn't pathetic Dimentio!' Timpani said. 'Love is a natural emotion, like happiness, anger, and sadness! Surely even _you_ have felt love at some point in your life!'

Dimentio felt like someone punched him in the stomach. Shock and pain at a horrible memory reflected on his face. Love...he found himself looking at Mimi for only an instant, and in that instant, Mimi registered it. She looked away, and Dimentio turned around, his smile vanishing completely; a very rare occurrence. Love...he had felt it before. Very recently, and also...many, many years ago...

'To love is to be human, to live,' Timpani pushed.

Dimentio clenched his fists, shaking. 'Love...' he muttered. 'Love...is useless.' Timpani glared at him. 'Those who feel love are...imperfect.' He warped away to Castle Bleck before Timpani could protest anymore.

Love...those who felt it were imperfect. Therefore...

He was imperfect. And it wasn't always that way.


	7. Chapter 7: Captive

Chapter 7: Captive

Fawful

'HAHAHAHAHA!'

High pitched, psychopathic laughter echoed through the hallways of Castle Bleck. Deep within the prison cells of the castle, Fawful was expressing his extreme satisfaction.

'Ha ha!' Fawful laughed to the exhausted Koopa King. 'Fawful sings a song of bad! Fawful's vengeance will be had!' He was grinning with evil delight as he cited his little song. 'This Koopa is locked up tight! Shaking with a lot of fright! Many chortles are for Fawful! And the...' He paused. 'Um...and the...rhyme with that!' How embarrassing. He still couldn't find a rhyme to go with "Fawful."

He stared at the bulky figure, hidden in shadow at the end of the cell. Bowser was completely secured. Long chains were clamped onto his hands, feet, and throat. His mouth was covered by an fireproof mask. Large, metal clamps wrapped around his shell, offering more restriction. Fawful pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. Thank the Overthere he had them back. As soon as he and Dimentio had come back, he had demanded that Dimentio take them out, then he had snatched them out of his hands, stomped the stupid things into the ground, and then picked them up and threw them out the window, into the dark vortex which always filled the sky.

'What is the matter being Bowser?' he mocked. 'Where is your toughness of consistency? Where is your fury?' Bowser grumbled. 'How is it feeling Bowser, to be being beaten again?'

Bowser growled. 'I beat you last time...' he muttered.

'Yes, but not the time of this! This time, Fawful is being the winner!' He laughed again. Fawful turned around and picked something up. 'Do you know what this is being...?' he asked. He held out a large chicken drumstick. 'General Fawful's Spicy Chicken!' Bowser looked up. 'Fawful knows how much you are liking it...the tender, the spicy, the chicken! And you are not having any!' He took a large bite, relishing it with an over exaggerated smile. 'Mmmm...the chicken, it has the yummies!' He waved it in front of the bars. 'General Fawful's Spicy—'

'YOU LITTLE FREAK!' Bowser roared. He leapt up and ran at Fawful, claws bared. 'I'LL POUND YOU INTO CONFETTI!'

Fawful snickered and pushed a button beside him. The chains, which were fed from a machine at the back, immediately locked, stopping Bowser with a yank. He gave a strangled yelp as the chain around his throat stopped him, and he collapsed to the ground. He laughed again. 'Oh Bowser, you have such patheticness!' He took another exaggerated bite of the chicken.

'Now, now...' a cool voice said. 'We don't want to _starve _him.'

Fawful turned to see Dimentio descend into the room. 'And what if Fawful IS wanting to have the starving of him?'

Dimentio, now clothed in his regular jester attire, smiled. 'Oh Fawful, you just don't know.' Fawful scowled; he was sick of Dimentio's patronizing tone all the time. He was not a child! Well...he supposed he technically was, but that wasn't the point! 'Fawful, you need to think outside the box. You need to think _wickedly_. You see, if we starve poor Bowser to death here, his suffering will be over before you know it. However, I say we drag it out.'

Fawful was interested. 'Ru?' He raised an eyebrow. 'Fawful is wondering what you are thinking...'

Dimentio grinned. 'We need to drag out his suffering. If we kill him now, what fun is there? We need to add to his woe, to make him lose hope. We'll keep him here, in this humiliation. He's never been imprisoned before, so we'll keep him here. As time goes on, he'll lose more hope. Our domination will continue, and everything will become more hopeless for him...soon, he'll begin to wish the thing I _know_ he's dreading...that _Mario_ will come to save him.' Bowser looked up. 'But it will never happen...and in the moment of our conquest Fawful, when it all falls into place, when the worlds are ours for the taking..._then_ we will kill him. Slowly...and painfully.' An malevolent, sadistic smile spread across his face.

Fawful grinned wickedly. 'I am liking the way you are thinking once again!'

Dimentio laughed. 'Ah ha ha. Yes, as am I. I suppose you simply have much more to learn about villainy.'

Fawful's smile immediately vanished. 'Fawful is not needing the learning!' he shouted. 'Fawful is having much villainy! Fawful had learning from the best, from the Great Cackletta!'

Dimentio looked thoughtful. 'Ah yes...I remember Cackletta.'

Fawful almost choked. 'You...you had the meeting of the Great Cackletta?'

Dimentio smiled. 'Yes, I did meet her.'

'How? How could you have had the meeting of her?'

'Inquisitive,' Dimentio noted. 'Well Fawful, Cackletta and I have a small history together. Not much to note, but still.'

'Be telling me!'

'You see, in my many, many years of living, I have wandered the dimensions, travelling...sightseeing, if you will. One time, I came across the Beanbean Kingdom, having no idea, of course, that my future enemies were living in the neighbouring kingdom. After a time, I came across a Beanish witch who called herself Cackletta.' Fawful shifted at this tale.

'She was curious,' Dimentio continued. 'She had never really met another competent spell caster, and my methods of using magic were...unorthodox. We both were obvious villains, and Cackletta told me that she had set her sights on a particular artefact, rich in power, capable of boosting one's energy by quite the amount. I had no interest in such a thing, but I wanted to have some fun, so I decided to accept her offer for help, such as it was. 'The artefact was located in a small house near the Beanbean Castle Town, owned by to Beans, male and female. They had been out for the day and Cackletta, wanting to remain unnoticed for her own reasons, decided that that day would be the best to steal it. So we went into the house to find the artefact. Cackletta went ahead to find it, while I stayed and explored. What we didn't count on was the couple returning to the house. They went in and saw me. They tried to force me out with a weapon. Cackletta, having retrieved the artefact, tried to stun them with electricity and get away. The artefact boosted her power and the lightning burnt them to charcoal, uplifting the house as well.' Dimentio snickered, obviously delighted by the memory.

'So, the artefact had been stolen successfully. The two owners had been killed. Our job was done. However, we heard something. Something interesting: a baby crying. Cackletta went to investigate. Found among the wreckage was a tiny Bean baby. Cackletta had regarded it for a moment, and then, for reasons I still don't understand, decided to take it as her own. I left soon after. I'd had enough fun, and didn't want to see the witch I had once respected spoil her villainy on a child.' He looked at Fawful. 'That is how I know her.'

Fawful stared at Dimentio for a moment. Shakily, he asked, 'How...how many years ago was this being?'

Dimentio thought. 'Hm...I'd say about nine years ago, more or less.'

Fawful almost had a heart attack. Nine years ago...and Fawful was about nine years old. All signs were pointing to one, obvious fact...

'The baby in the house...was Fawful,' he said.

Dimentio raised an eyebrow. 'It was you?' he questioned. Fawful nodded, feeling his heart freeze. Cackletta had killed his real parents...and taken him in. No wonder she would never tell him they story of how she had found him; he would've been distraught. However...Cackletta had been like a mother to him. He could never hate her for killing the parents he had never had. And now...Fawful knew his origins. 'Hm...they grow up so fast. I never would have guessed she would've raised such an odd villain, but I suppose you take on the habits of the one who raises you.' He laughed.

'Do not have the making fun of me!' Fawful shouted. Dimentio just laughed again. 'Hmph!' Fawful pouted. 'I am going to go work on my weapons of fury!' He stomped away up the stairs.

Fawful slammed the door of his room shut. He hated how smug Dimentio was about everything! Taking something as important as his birth and making it look stupid...how dare he? He sat down on his chair, looking at all the work he had done on his machines: he had leftovers from some of the traps he had used in the castle against Bowser...they could prove useful. He still had the concussive grenades he had built in the shape of durable, silver balls. He had a few ray gun prototypes he needed to test; he was trying to make a gun that could tear through flesh like paper. It'd be instant death for anyone he were to use it on. He meant to make one during his attempted conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom, but when his plan got going, he had been stuck with the first model. It had been okay, but not good enough. Looking around more, he saw his ultimate project: his Headgear. When he had shown Dimentio into his room to fix the tracker, he had seen Dimentio looking at the Headgear. He had only got to work on the outer shell then, and not much more work had been done...he still needed the inner wiring and fuel for the rockets. Not to mention the energy cell and base for the projectiles...and a lot of other things to do on it as well. Making a living helmet was a very difficult task.

Fawful looked at it. The Headgear really had been his ultimate weapon. He had even rebuilt it once; the Headgear Mk. II. Now it was Mk. III he was working on, trying to fix some of the problems the Mk. II had. Maybe a better A.I...or more powerful shields. He picked up his tools and pushed in his chair. Time to get to work.

Easier said than done. He had started working on it for about five minutes before he remembered something...or some_one_ rather. The face of that girl, Mimi, had popped back into his head. He lost himself in those thoughts, tapping his tools on the desk dreamily. He noticed this and shook his head furiously. He needed to work, not waste his time thinking about a girl! A really pretty girl...but this was more important! Then why couldn't he concentrate on it?

He slammed his hands on the desk, panting slightly, sweating a little. Look at him: he was wasting precious time and energy. He needed to think straight; what was the thing he wanted to do? The answer was easy; go and find that girl. He got up and opened the door.

'Dimentio!' he yelled.

Dimentio appeared right in front of his face. 'Yes, what is it?' he asked. 'No need to shout across the castle.'

'Fawful is going out.'

'"Out?"' Dimentio repeated. '"Out" where?'

'Out,' Fawful said again. 'Can Fawful not have some privacy to himself?'

Dimentio shrugged. 'I suppose. Be on your way then.'

Fawful drew a flat square around himself and spun around twice. On the first half turn, he was in the castle. When he turned again, he was in a completely different world.

When he spun around again and stopped, he was in the Mushroom Kingdom. He drew his cloak around him and searched for shade; the sun would make him more noticeable, and the last thing he wanted was to get caught.

He needed to find that girl...he wondered where she was. He figured maybe at Princess Peach's Castle. That's where they had been the first time. He walked in the direction of it; he could take his time. He was in no hurry. He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose again. He wondered what race Mimi was. She didn't look like anything he had ever seen, though she resembled a Bean a little, with the colour of her skin. Fawful scratched his head; he needed to find her.

He saw the castle from the distance. Looking at it now, he found himself wishing now, more than ever that his plan had succeeded. Control of both Bowser's and Peach's Castles...it had once been his...now he had nothing. He clenched his fists. He supposed it didn't matter. They'd be his soon anyway, and he'd have his own castle. Castle Fawful! Yes, that was nice.

He went into the castle and searched around for a while, to no avail. She simply wasn't here. He walked out into the gardens. He never really had appreciated the gardens during his takeover. There just had been too much to do. Even villains needed to relax and unwind in peace. That was why he and Cackletta had snuck into the Beanbean Castle Gardens sometimes to rest. They were only caught once. Granted, they never snuck in again after that, but it _was_ only once.

Fawful's breath caught; there she was, just lying there in the gardens, peacefully. He swallowed a mouthful of spit; all he had to do was walk up to her and say hi. That was it. Nothing too hard. So do it. Or maybe not. He didn't have to. Yes he did! No he didn't! YES! NO!

'ARGH!' Fawful shook his head violently. 'I have conflict!' he screamed.

'Hm?' Mimi turned her head in Fawful's direction.

Fawful froze. He hadn't been expecting that. He stared at her, and she stared back. 'Um...h-hello!' he sputtered.

Mimi smiled, and Fawful almost melted. 'Hi!' she said. 'I haven't seen you around here.'

'N-no. You wouldn't have the seeing of me.'

'So, what's your name?'

'My n-name?'

Mimi nodded. 'Yeah, your name. You know, what people call you.'

Fawful mentally beat himself up for acting so stupid. She was just a girl! He gulped. 'My name is being "Fawful,"' he answered.

'"Fawful?" That's a neat name. I'm Mimi.' She stood up and walked over to him.

Fawful nodded. 'Fawful is not wanting you to be telling anyone of our encounter.'

Mimi looked startled. 'Why?'

'Fawful is...not being very liked. Just do not have the telling.'

'I dunno, that seems a little—'

'Do not have the telling of anyone!' he shouted.

'Okay okay, sheesh!'

An awkward silence took over. 'Um...Fawful is being sorry. Fawful did not mean to shout.'

Mimi smiled. 'That's okay. You're probably scared or something.'

'Hmph! Fawful is not being afraid of anything!'

'Whatever you say.' Mimi looked at him. 'Where are you from?'

'Fawful is being from the Beanbean Kingdom. It is being the neighbour of the Mushroom Kingdom, which we are standing in. Where are you being from?'

'Um...' Mimi thought. 'I...really don't know.'

'Ruru?' Fawful mused. 'Why is that being?'

'Um...I think I'll keep that to myself.'

Fawful frowned. 'Okay.'

'What do you do?' Mimi asked.

'...Fawful is not knowing what you are asking.'

'Oh come on. Everybody does SOMETHING. Like me. I'm a maid at Merlee's Mansion. What do you do?'

'Um...Fawful is not having a job.'

'Oh.'

Fawful waited a moment before asking: 'Why are you with the mustaches of red and green?'

'The what?'

'Mario and Luigi.'

'OOOHH...' She smiled. 'They saved my life! They saved the Count's life, and the lives of everyone in every world there ever was! Without them we'd all be dead. They're such great people!' Fawful just stared. 'Why? What do you think of them?'

Fawful stared at her, blindly, for a moment. He dropped his gaze from her. 'I have fury...' he muttered.

'What?'

'I have fury!' he shouted. 'I have much, much fury for the mustaches! Them, with the killing of my mistress and the destroying of me and my plan! Them, with their hammers and stomping and mushrooms and...and...' He hung his head back. 'I HAVE RAGE!' He sank to his knees and hung his head.

Mimi paused. She looked down at him. '...Fawful?' she asked.

Fawful struggled to his feet. 'Fawful...Fawful is sorry. Fawful should not concern you with things that do not concern you.'

'That's okay...'

'Fawful hopes that we can be friends...'

Mimi smiled. 'Of _course _silly!'

Fawful almost collapsed. 'R-really?'

'Yeah!'

Fawful gave a wide, toothy smile, which made _Mimi_ look small by comparison. 'I have happies! Fawful's happies which he is dining on are tastier than an all-you-can-eat sandwich buffet!'

Mimi laughed. 'You sure are a weird character Fawfie!'

'So they are saying.' He looked at her. 'Would you like to come to Fawful's home?'

'Uh...sure.'

Fawful's grin widened, along with Mimi's eyes. 'I have more happies!' He grabbed Mimi's arm. 'Have the bracing!' He drew a box around the two of them and they flipped out of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Dimentio

'I suppose. Be on your way then.' Fawful flipped out to wherever he was off to. Dimentio really didn't care where. He had important business to attend to. He warped up to his room, shutting the door. He snapped his fingers and the lights came on. He went over and sat in his chair, pulling the Dark Prognosticus out from its drawer. He opened it to the first page, where he had written his sentence last time. As he looked down the page, he saw something that hadn't been there before:

_How long?_

Dimentio started. He knew this would happen, but..."How long?" What did that mean? He picked up his pen; it was time to get into a conversation...with a book.

_What do you mean, "How long?"_ he wrote on the page. A moment passed. Dimentio jumped as words materialized on the page.

_How many years?_ Dimentio realized what he meant.

_About 1500-1100 years ago._

A pause. _That long?_

_Yes._

Another pause. _Is he alive?_

Dimentio snickered. _Unfortunately. He'll die soon enough._

_I can hardly wait._ Yet another pause. _How long?_

_Don't be a smart aleck._

_How long until the seal fades? _

Dimentio thought. _I don't know. I could try and speed it up, but I don't think I will._

A long moment passed. _What do you mean "you won't?"_

_I mean I won't help you. I have far too many things to worry about right now. It isn't the right time yet._

_When WILL the right time be?_

_When I want it to be._

The longest pause yet. _Words cannot describe how much I hate you._

_Now now, don't be rude._ A pause. _Farewell. Hope we can chat again._ He shut the book,

cackling. He just loved to be so...in control.

Loud knocking erupted from the front doors of the castle. Dimentio almost jumped out of his skin; he wasn't used to knocking. Normally everyone just warped or flipped in. There was no need for the doors. Dimentio warped to them. More knocking. Dimentio grabbed the door handle and opened.

'Why don't you just flip—' He paused as he saw something he wasn't expecting. '...in?' He finished.

Fawful was standing there, along with Mimi, who had also froze and was staring at Dimentio, shocked.

'Fawful...?' Dimentio spoke slowly. 'Why is Mimi here?'

Fawful looked from Dimentio to Mimi and back. 'Fawful...just wanted to be polite?'

'Why are you in the Count's castle?' Mimi demanded.

This couldn't be happening. This absolutely could not be happening! This was the one thing he had feared from the beginning: that someone would discover them. And it was Mimi, of all people.

'Well?' Mimi demanded. 'Why are you here?'

In all his vast mind, in all the possibilities and scheming and planning, in all the things he had thought of...nothing had prepared him for this. He just didn't think it would happen.

'Ah ha...what an interesting turn...' he muttered to himself.

'What?' Mimi asked.

'I didn't think we'd be discovered...'

'"Discovered?" Discovered doing what?'

Dimentio gave a sick smile. 'Ah ha ha. Well Mimi, I suppose an explanation is in order. You see, Fawful and I are plotting our vengeance, using Castle Bleck as our base.'

Mimi's eyes widened. 'V-vengeance?' she sputtered.

'_Yes..._' Dimentio hissed. 'Vengeance! Vengeance against those four pathetic heroes who crushed our plans under their feet! And, of course, you and the rest of Count Bleck's merry crew will face your justice as well.'

Mimi looked at Fawful angrily. 'How could you?' she exclaimed.

'F-Fawful was not knowing!' he gasped.

Mimi put up her hand, preparing to flip back. Dimentio snapped his fingers and an explosion sent Mimi hurtling across the walkway leading to the front doors. Dimentio walked slowly toward her, leaving Fawful staring at the scene in horror. 'Oh Mimi, I'm _terribly _sorry you had to be brought into this. Or perhaps not.' He laughed.

Mimi stood up, shaking. He snarled at him, tilting her head abruptly to the side. A sickening crack echoed through the air.

'Oh now, we'll have none of that.' Dimentio snapped his fingers again, and dark, rope-like coils flew out from behind him, wrapping tightly around Mimi, one of them forcing her head back into place. They squeezed tighter, leaving Mimi gasping for breath, to no avail. 'I'm afraid you won't be leaving here Mimi. You'll be a permanent guest in Castle Bleck. Quite the change from living here, I'm sure.' He snapped his fingers again and the coils sunk into her skin, spreading throughout her body. 'I hope you don't mind parting with your powers. We wouldn't want you starting an attack, would we?'

Mimi sank to her knees, crying through the pain. 'You...' she breathed. 'You...stupid...evil...clown!'

Dimentio pointed at her, snapped his fingers, and quickly moved his hand to the door. Mimi flew the length of the walkway, crashing to a halt on the floor of the castle. Dimentio flew into it, Fawful following suit, looking terrified. With a snap of Dimentio's fingers, the doors creaked shut, crashing together with a bang. 'Welcome again to Castle Bleck, Mimi. I hope you enjoy your stay.'

The psychopathic jester's sadistic laughter filled the ears of both Mimi and Fawful, filling them both with more despair than they ever thought was possible.


	8. Chapter 8: Fury

Chapter 8: Fury

Fawful

Fawful picked at his food, seated at the dining table of Castle Bleck. It seemed like an eternity since he had last eaten, but in reality it had only been this morning when he had last had sustenance. He twiddled the spork he was using in his hand (he really liked sporks; a fork and a spoon all in one was much more convenient). Maybe it was the different things he had on his mind; plans, his enemies, Dimentio himself, and, most recurring, Mimi. Or maybe it was that he hadn't been eating much, which was surprising considering Fawful's amazing cooking ability. He thought...nope. It was none of those things...

'EEK!' Mimi ran down the hall screaming.

'Ah ha ha! Come now Mimi, why are you so afraid?' Dimentio zoomed after her.

It was the fear. The fear that Mimi wouldn't live very long. Dimentio had been making Mimi's life a living Underwhere ever since she had arrived, chasing her and taunting her with explosions and readings from her diary. Fawful wasn't sure which one Mimi hated more. He was leaning more towards the diary readings. He picked at his food again; it was a dish that was often served in the Beanbean Kingdom. He couldn't go back there again; he had no family. The only family he had ever had was Cackletta, which was ironic when you remembered that Cackletta had killed his parents. He was a wanted Bean. The least he could do was make foods from his homeland, and try for some nostalgia.

'CUT IT OUT YOU FREAK!' Mimi screeched.

Mimi rushed into the kitchen, slipping and falling on her face. She groaned and turned over. Dimentio floated in. 'Oh Mimi,' he said. 'You have no idea how much FUN I am having!'

'Why are you doing this?' Mimi yelled.

'You naive little girl. Your endless chattering has haunted my thoughts like a recurring nightmare which has been had every night since birth! I could barely stand to live in the same house as you for so long, and I needed to keep up that awful charade and try to feign loyalty to that pathetic excuse for a villain, Count Bleck! You have no idea the things I would have done to all of you idiots if I had had my way.'

Fawful suddenly felt nervous; that proved it! Dimentio was nothing but trouble. He had betrayed his partners...who was to say he wouldn't do it again? Fawful just picked at his food; the less Dimentio knew he knew, the better for Fawful.

'If you had just trusted the Count and helped him, you wouldn't have died that day!' Mimi shouted.

'Ha!' Dimentio scoffed. 'If I hadn't acted, what would I be? Where would I stand? I'd be a simple civilian in an imperfect world. Now look at me! A feared villain, fighting for justice! No, not a villain, a hero! A hero fighting for a new, perfect world! Besides,' he added. 'I'm alive today, aren't I?'

'_Any_ world with you in it's imperfect you psychopath!'

'Pah!' Dimentio spat, snapping his fingers. An explosion knocked Mimi off of her feet. 'Don't spew such nonsense in my presence.'

Mimi hit the ground and rolled, coming to a stop facing Fawful. Fawful looked at her, concerned. Mimi stared up at him. 'You'll have to cease with the insults Mimi, or more harm will befall you.' He snickered, pressing the tips of his thumb and middle finger together. Mimi looked up at Fawful, horrified, silently pleading.

_Help me..._ she mouthed, tears forming in her eyes.

Fawful looked at her, shaking, gripping his spork tightly in his hands, white-knuckled. Thoughts invaded his mind, passing through before he could fully register them.

_Cackletta teaching Fawful how to plot, using sandwiches as a metaphor; Fawful sneaking out to the kitchen at night for a snack, with Cackletta catching him soon after; Cackletta blasting two Beans with lightning; Fawful being smashed out the window of Bowser's Castle by the Mario Bros.;_ _Fawful setting up shop in the sewers; Fawful preparing his evil plan, making the Blorb Shrooms and his new Headgear..._

Fawful had been a villain since birth...he'd been brought up as one...

_Fawful being attacked by Bowser, after he had absorbed some of the Dark Star; Fawful lying on the ground, as the Dark Fawful Bug, proclaiming his defeat; Fawful's soul hurtling towards the depths of the Underwhere..._

The Mario Brothers...and Bowser...they needed to pay for their crimes against him...

_A Shayde saving Fawful from the Underwhere, later revealed to be Dimentio; Dimentio helping him plan; Dimentio assisting him in the capture of the Koopa King, Bowser..._

Dimentio was helping him...actually, as much as he hated to admit it, Dimentio was the brains of the entire scheme. Without him, this would be nothing. He was Mimi's enemy...if he stood up for Mimi, would Dimentio abandon him and avenge himself on his own?

_'That's his motive? Love? Pathetic!'_

Dimentio's words flashed through his mind.

_'Love is...useless.'_

Fawful almost collapsed under the hopelessness. He knew what Dimentio would do...

_'Those who feel love are...imperfect.'_

There was no other option, if he wanted revenge. He couldn't do anything.

Fawful turned away. 'Fawful is a villain of excellence,' he said, controlling his voice. 'Fawful cannot waste time on a little girl like the one which is you.'

Mimi looked shocked for a moment, then it left. The look she gave Fawful when it did was so horrible Fawful was glad he only saw it out of the corner of his eye. Even so, he felt his heart shatter as he saw that fleeting glance.

'Fawful has...' he muttered. 'Much planning to do...' He stabbed his food with his spork.

'Ah!' Dimentio exclaimed, just as he was about to toss Mimi somewhere. He floated in front of her, looking at Fawful eagerly. 'That reminds me! We need to set Phase 2 of our plan in motion!'

All thoughts of Mimi were shoved aside as Fawful's villain roots completely took over. 'We are going kidnap our next victim of helplessness?'

Dimentio smiled wickedly. '_Yes_. And this one's going to be the easiest!'

'Ru? Is it being who I think it is?'

'Princess Peach Toadstool, ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom.'

'What?' Mimi exclaimed. 'You can't kidnap her!'

'Oh yes we can,' Dimentio said matter-of-factly. 'And it'll be easy. Besides...' he added. 'Why do you care? _You_ had a rivalry with her once, correct? When you were a villain of course.' Fawful was surprised; he hadn't known Mimi used to be a villain. He would've smiled, if he didn't think Mimi never wanted to talk to him again.

'I...I don't care about that!' she yelled. She looked at Fawful. 'Why do you want to kidnap her? What has she done to you?'

Fawful shrugged. 'Fawful is not caring. While she is ruling Mushroom Kingdom, Fawful is not. Therefore, she is standing in Fawful's way.' Mimi glared at him. 'What is the plan being?' he asked Dimentio.

'Oh Fawful, it is so simple it's sad. It's something that has been done time and time again, always working, never failing: we're simply going to kidnap her.'

'That is it?'

'That's it.'

Fawful paused. 'Uh...Fawful was expecting a great plan of extravagance, like with Bowser.'

'No, I'm afraid not, though there is one thing.'

'Yes?'

'You'll have to reveal yourself.'

Fawful was shocked. 'Fawful wants to remain unseen and in the shadows where no one knows of him!'

'That's unfortunate. I thought it may have been easier to simply swoop in and take her. You HAVE done it before, right?'

'The time of twice,' Fawful said. 'No, the time of thrice!'

'Excellent, so it'll be no problem to do it again.'

'Fawful has already told you—'

'Also, I think having their nemesis return from the grave, come back to destroy them would scare them much more than Bowser's incident. For all they know, Bowser's disappearance was simply a random warp, courtesy of the Charming Magician.' He gave a small bow. 'If you come back, the fear factor rises quickly. You ARE quite the renowned villain to them, I assume.'

Fawful grinned widely. 'Yes! Fawful is being a villain of much renown!'

'Then take that renown back Fawful. Show them your fury!'

'I have much fury!' he shouted.

'Ah ha ha. I don't believe you.'

Fawful glared at him. 'I HAVE FURY!' he shouted.

'Then show them! Make your comeback to the stage Fawful! Make your first bow!'

'I will have comeback! I will have bowing!'

'And I will have...uh, I mean...I will sit back and watch.'

'What? Fawful is doing all the work of labour!' he shouted.

'You need to remember, I am the heroes' friend now. Or they think I am at least. If I go and kidnap the Princess, their trust will immediately disappear. I'd like to take advantage of that trust while I can.'

Fawful grumbled. 'I have understanding...'

'Good.' Dimentio clapped his hands together. 'We start now. Depart for the Mushroom Kingdom immediately.' He snapped his fingers, sending Mimi careening out the door to another room, and warped out.

Fawful looked at Mimi. She turned and starred at him. She gave that horrible look again, and Fawful left immediately.

Fawful flipped into the Mushroom Kingdom, looking around. So...all he had to do was kidnap the Princess. Easy enough task. He had already done it three times before. Once with Cackletta, once when he was on his own after her fall, and once in his grand plan to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom. Well...forth time was the charm he supposed. Although, that was actually the third, which failed.

'Fawful.'

Fawful jumped a few feet into the air in surprise, yelling. He pointed his blaster at the person. 'DIE FINK-RAT!' he shouted.

'Fawful!'

Fawful looked at the person. It was Dimentio. Fawful paused, then scowled. 'Dimentio! Do not have the sneaking up on the one who is me!' He put his blaster away, turning around.

'Are you ready for your mission Fawful?' Dimentio said.

'Yes.'

'Good.'

'...you have seriousness.'

Dimentio shifted. 'Nervous I suppose.'

Fawful laughed. 'Nervous? The great Magician of Charm is never nervous!'

'Ah ha ha...' Dimentio chuckled. 'It's been a while since I've done the evil plotting of my own. Last time, I had Count Bleck do all the hard work, and used the heroes as well. Now it's all me...' he looked at Fawful. 'With a little help from you of course.'

'Fawful is doing much more than helping!'

'Perhaps.' Dimentio shifted again, and Fawful got the feeling the jester had much more on his mind than just his plan. 'Your weapons needed for this mission. Do you have them at your disposal?'

Fawful nodded. 'Fawful has made his machines able to warp through the dimensional space, and has made many things. Fawful is ready.'

'Very well.' Dimentio stretched. 'Strike on my signal. I will decide when the opportune moment of attack is.'

Fawful nodded. He knew by now that, as crazy and untrustworthy Dimentio was, he knew what he was doing. The capture of Bowser proved that much. Everything had gone exactly as Dimentio had planned, down to the most miniscule detail. Fawful wondered how he had done it. 'Fawful will wait for the signal.' He grinned. 'Tonight is when the fear sets in, like thoughts of gross veggies for breakfast!' He ran off excitedly toward the castle, leaving Dimentio in his wake.

Dimentio

Dimentio opened the front doors of the castle, walking in. The moon was hidden behind the clouds, casting an eerie semi-darkness over it. When he closed the doors, he found the heroes (save for Bowser) and Blumiere and the rest seated at a table, talking.

'Ah!' Dimentio said. 'I do hope I'm not interrupting anything important!' Everyone jumped, and Mario leapt out of his seat, landing in a fighting stance. 'Now now Mario, we're allies now, remember?'

Mario paused, then relaxed. 'I guess I just need to get used to this...' he muttered.

'I suppose.' Dimentio snapped his fingers and a chair appeared. 'I hope you don't mind me taking part in this talk.' He sat down. Everyone just looked at him. 'Well? Please continue.'

'We are sorry Dimentio,' Blumiere said, 'if we are a little uneasy with your presence. You used to be our enemy.'

'Ah, but that's all in the past, correct Blumiere?' He smiled, trying to make it devoid of anything that could betray him. He wasn't quite certain if he succeeded.

'I suppose...'

'Now, the discussion?'

'Well,' Mario said. 'We were talking about Bowser's...disappearance.'

'Oh yes? What about it?'

Mario looked at him. 'YOU sent him away.'

'Oh right, that. Well, how has life been without the terrorizing?'

'Boring,' Luigi said. 'And it HAS only been a few days.'

'Well, what else can be discussed?'

'We think it wasn't an accident that you sent him away,' Mario stated.

'Well of course not. It was completely intentional.'

'No Dimentio, what we mean is that...' He coughed. 'We think you sent him somewhere specific.'

'Specific? Where?'

'We don't know. I was hoping you did.'

'I'm afraid not Mario. I just sent him away. I don't know where he is right now. Probably dead.' Mario was silent. 'Oh, there is something I've been meaning to ask.' Everyone looked at him. 'You haven't seen Mimi here anywhere have you? Her absence is like a void in my heart; the Count's group just isn't complete without her.' He laughed inwardly.

Everyone looked around, startled by this. 'Um...' Nastasia said. 'I haven't seen her...'

'I hadn't seen the lass all day,' O'Chunks replied.

'I haven't seen Mimi around...' Blumiere said. The Mario Bros. shook their heads.

Timpani looked very worried. 'She's gone! Where is she?'

Dimentio feigned a look of worry. 'I have no idea! That shall have to be something to look into. I'll personally make it my mission to locate her, as soon as I can.'

'Yeah.' Nastasia said. 'That doesn't surprise me at all.'

'Hm?' Dimentio was, for once, confused. 'I don't follow.'

Nastasia gave a wry smile. 'It's been so obvious in the time that you spent with us Dimentio. We all know what you think of Mimi.'

Dimentio's mouth dropped open momentarily. 'A-and what is that?' he questioned. He looked at Princess Peach; she was surrounded by people who could interfere with Fawful's kidnapping of her. Though, if he didn't act now, he was sure to be thoroughly embarrassed. He pressed a button on his ring discreetly and sent a pulse of magic down the line to Fawful's.

Fawful

Fawful's tracker gave a sudden sound; a mixture of a loud beep, an error tone, and a grinding sound from the inside, making him jump and panic. He turned it on hastily to see a message from Dimentio: "ATTACK." Fawful grinned and dismissed it, pressing a button on his tracker. He ran up to a window and set down a few silver charges. While he was doing it, he heard just a bit of the conversation; the woman named Nastasia said something:

'Yes, it _is_ very obvious. You've made your feelings for Mimi very clear.'

'I don't understand what you mean,' Dimentio said, very close to stuttering.

'Ha!' Nastasia gave a curt laugh that made Fawful's skin crawl even more so than when Dimentio laughed. This woman was usually down-to-business, which Fawful gathered just by looking at her, and laughing did not suit her. Fawful jumped back, pressing a few things on his ring. A small, red button popped up. He was about to disrupt the meeting...and cut off Nastasia's little taunt.

'We all know by now. You're in—'

_BOOM!_

The gigantic explosion of fire and dust immediately cut off any conversation as everyone turned to look at it, startled out of their minds. Large chunks of the stone wall crashed to the ground, and the shattering of glass, the pieces breaking more on the floor, filled their ears. Dimentio breathed a sigh of relief.

Fawful jumped to the ground into the castle, hidden by the smoke. Everyone covered their eyes as it descended upon them. Mario coughed. 'Peach, you have to get out of here!' he yelled.

She backed up, staggering. 'I can't see!' she shouted back.

Mario squinted. 'Who...who are you?' he demanded.

Fawful laughed manically, the high-pitched squeak filling his foes' ears. Through the smoke, he saw the eyes of everyone he had previously affected widen in recognition. 'I have hurt!' he cried. 'The mustache of red is not recognizing the one who is me?'

'No...' Luigi breathed.

'It can't be him...' Mario followed.

'I say to you, YES!' He pressed a button and the machine he had built for travel during his conquest, a rocket-propelled hover platform, warped into the dimension. Fawful hopped on it and zoomed over their head, laughing as he did so. As they turned and saw him, they knew the truth. 'I HAVE FAWFUL!' he screamed. 'And now I will have the kidnapping of your Princess!'

Peach sighed. 'Why is it always me...?' she muttered.

Fawful swooped down, hand outstretched, ready to grab the Princess. Mario knocked her aside and jumped onto the platform.

'Guys!' Luigi said. 'Let Mario handle this one!'

'But we need to help!' Timpani opposed.

'Trust me. With Bowser, it was different. Fawful's small and unarmed. My bro can handle this nut.' He was met with the craft smashing into his rear, then flying back into the air. Luigi groaned in pain. 'And THAT is why we need to go.' He ushered them out of the room, Peach leading the way in a hurry.

Mario kicked at Fawful, who ducked under the attack. Fawful punched at Mario, who just blocked the weak blow. Mario delivered a punch of his own, which hit Fawful square in the nose.

'Fink-rat!' he yelled. 'You are not supposed to be hitting a Bean with glasses!' He rammed Mario in the stomach, causing him to keel over. Fawful kicked him hard in the head and Mario tumbled off the craft, grabbing onto the side for dear life with one hand. Fawful grinned. 'Mustache has pain!' he shouted, and stomped on Mario's hand. 'Mustache has more pain!' He stomped again. 'Mustache has—' He was interrupted as the craft crashed into a wall, and both of them fell off, landing painfully on the ground. Mario got up and ran at Fawful. Fawful tried to ram him again, but Mario jumped up and brought his feet down hard on Fawful's head. A large _thud_ sounded and Fawful fell over, head pounding, dazed. He hated this feeling; it was as if his brain was going to burst. He got up and Mario ran at him again. Fawful pulled out his blaster and fired. The O-shaped ray collided with Mario, knocking him off his feet.

'Mamma Mia...' he groaned.

'I have victory!' he yelled, as he fired again.

Mario flipped up off the ground out of the way of the ray, demonstrating his incredible aerobatics. He landed and ran at Fawful, kicking him in the stomach. Fawful sank to his knees and Mario jumped up. Fawful pressed a button on his ring and the craft smashed into Mario's back. Fawful jumped onto the craft and flew above Mario, who was lying on the ground.

'Mustache has DEATH!' he screamed, bringing the craft down upon Mario a few times. When he was satisfied with his victory, he brought the craft down on Mario one more time, and flew into the next hall in pursuit of his prey.

Everyone turned, shocked. 'Mario!' Luigi yelled. 'Hey you! What have you done to my brother?' Fawful fired a ray, knocking Luigi out of the way, then flew in to grab the Princess. He stretched out his hand...

And crashed into a transparent barrier.

'My my,' Dimentio chuckled. 'We only just get rid of the Koopa King and another villain is out for the Princess. What rotten luck.' Fawful picked himself up off the ground, lamenting his hovercraft; it had been totalled. It'd take forever to fix. He glared at Dimentio.

'Stupid jester fink-rat!' he yelled in frustration, brandishing his gun. 'Fawful's fury will fall upon you, like many, many giant balls of—'

Dimentio snapped his fingers, an explosion throwing Fawful in mid-simile. 'Monologuing isn't smart in a fight, Beany boy.' He spun his finger, a purple dimensional projectile appearing above it, crackling with odd, small, yellow cubes. He shot it at Fawful, hitting him and sending him rolling a few feet.

Fawful growled; this wasn't part of the plan. If he had known Dimentio was going to try and "stop" him, he would've came more prepared. Darn...

'Stop with the fighting!' Fawful yelled. 'Fawful will have victory!' He fired a ray, hitting Dimentio in the stomach and knocking him off his feet, smile still present, as always. Fawful ran, shooting randomly, clearing a path. Not wanting to take chances, he aimed the gun at Peach's face and fired, knocking her unconscious. He gripped her hand. 'I have comeback!' he yelled. 'I have bowing!' He saw Dimentio raise an eyebrow at these statements. 'And I...have...FURY! You brothers of Mario, you mustaches of red and green! You will be next on the hit-list of Fawful!' He stuck out his tongue flipping out of the dimension, Princess Peach in tow.

Dimentio

Dimentio pulled himself off the ground. Everyone looked at him. 'I...' he said. 'I...I have failed...'

'She's gone...' Everyone turned to see Mario struggle into the room. 'Peach is gone...'

'Yes...' Dimentio confirmed. 'Princess Peach is now gone. 'And Fawful, if that was his name...will be coming for you two as well.' Luigi shuttered.

'Mimi too...' Blumiere said. 'Everyone's disappearing. First Bowser, then Mimi, then Peach...'

'Wait a minute...Dimentio sent Bowser away, then Mimi disappears, then this character comes and take Peach...' Timpani mused.

'Speaking of which, I suppose I'll go seek out Mimi now!' Dimentio said nervously. He warped out to Castle Bleck.

He said he had failed...but that was wrong. He had won this battle. He only hoped Mario and the rest of them weren't catching on to him.


	9. Chapter 9: Love Hate

Chapter 9: Love-Hate

Mimi

'Are you sure you're alright?' Mimi asked.  
'Really, I'm fine,' Princess Peach replied.  
'I'm not,' Bowser grumbled. 'I feel crummy.'  
'Well, at least you have the Princess to talk to now,' Mimi noted. She sighed. 'I wish I could break you out of here, but I can't. I have no more powers while I'm here, thanks to Dimentio...'  
'Dimentio...' Peach breathed. 'I can't believe it. He's out there, making sweet talk with everyone, when he's really planning to kill them all...and we can't do anything!'  
Mimi lowered her gaze. 'I knew he was bad...I knew it...but I did nothing when he was with us...'  
'Don't blame yourself Mimi...'  
'But it's my fault! I could have done _something_!'  
'No you couldn't have. Only Blumiere could have, and he didn't.'  
'I...' Mimi started. She shook her head. 'Maybe you're right...' She looked up. 'I need to go.'  
Peach smiled. 'Don't worry Mimi. We'll be fine. Take care of yourself.'  
Mimi tried to smile, but it just looked fake, so she abandoned it. 'I'll try. I'll try...' She turned and walked up the stairs.  
Maybe Peach was right...Mimi couldn't have done anything. Or...maybe she could. Maybe...or, definitely...she just never wanted to...

Mimi ran down the halls, horrified as Dimentio chased her once again, throwing attacks this way and that, cackling as he did so.  
'Run Mimi!' he shouted. 'Run faster, or I might catch you!' Mimi ran faster. If only she had her powers back, she could at least fight. She wasn't sure if she would win though; Dimentio was quick, agile, and deadly.  
'Why can't you just leave me ALONE?' she cried for the umpteenth time.  
'Why do that when this is so much _fun_?'  
Mimi ran down the bedroom corridors in a panic. One of Dimentio's attacks hit her in the feet, sending her tumbling and rolling. She crawled a bit and passed Fawful's room, which, by chance, had the door opened. She continued crawling. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Fawful, who was busy at one of his machines, look at her. Behind his swirled glasses, his eyes looked sad. Mimi did her best to look away; she didn't need that freak's pity. If he cared, why didn't he HELP?  
'Oh Mimi,' Dimentio sighed. 'Why must you make this boring for me?'  
'I...' Mimi shuttered. 'I HATE YOU!' she screamed.  
Dimentio pretended to wince. 'Your words, they wound me like a innocent puppy with a broken foot!' He generated an attack. 'And that displeases me.' He threw it at her and it hit its target, causing Mimi to roll a bit more. She struggled up. She needed to get away...anything was better than facing Dimentio. But it was impossible. She was trapped, at his mercy, and there was nothing she could do about it. Everything was pointless...Dimentio was going to kill her...  
Everything was far too overwhelming. Unable to do anything else, Mimi laid her head on the floor and cried.  
Dimentio stopped. 'Oh, come now, don't be dramatic.'  
Mimi glared at him through the tears. 'You're nothing but a monster...a MONSTER! I hate you, I wish I never met you!'  
'Mimi-'  
'GO AWAY! YOU DON'T DESERVE A PERFECT WORLD!' Mimi reached into a pocket on her dress.  
'What're you-' Dimentio started.  
Mimi pulled out something. It was a transparent, red Rubee, a rare stone Mimi could shoot. In the centre of it...was a sparkling, white rose.  
Dimentio's eyes widened. 'You...don't!' he cried.  
Mimi didn't listen. She brought it up and smashed it on the black, soulless floor, shattering it to pieces. The rose rested for a moment, then slowly withered and died, turning to dust on the ground.  
Dimentio gaped at her. 'You...' he breathed. 'You...' Mimi shut her eyes and more tears flowed. Her heart was hurting, as well as her body. Dimentio just looked at her. Then, for what was probably the first time in a very, very long time, his smile disappeared, and not into a frown. His eyes lowered, his mouth closed, and he sighed. It faded into sadness. 'I...see...' he muttered. He turned and began to walk slowly down the hallway, arms drooping by his sides.  
Mimi laid there, shuttering, for a few moments. This was the first time in a very long time that she had been brought to tears. She couldn't believe this was happening...especially because she couldn't believe Dimentio could really have done this to her.  
'Mimi...'  
Mimi stopped for a moment. 'Go...go away Fawful,' she whispered.  
'Fawful is not wanting to leave.'  
'Go AWAY.'  
'No. You are not being the boss of Fawful.'  
Mimi sighed. 'What do you want?'  
'Come in to Fawful's workroom and sit.'  
Mimi paused. 'Fine.' She got up and walked in, Fawful following close behind. Mimi couldn't help but be amazed at everything around her; technological gadgets everywhere you looked, of different shapes and sizes, and it all looked incredible. 'Fawful...?' she asked. 'How old are you?'  
'Fawful is being the age of nine years.'  
'NINE?' She gaped at him. 'And you built all this?'  
Fawful beamed. 'I say to you, yes! I have had the building of many things, as I have been saying to Dimentio ever since he had the bringing of the one who is Fawful to the Castle of Bleck!'  
Mimi's face immediately darkened. 'There's one thing I don't understand: why you're working with HIM.'  
Fawful's face darkened a bit as well. 'Fawful is not liking it much, but it has to happen if Fawful is getting the revenge he desires so much.'  
'Why do you want revenge?'  
'Because, as Fawful had the saying of to you before: the mustaches of red and green, the brothers of Mario, had the destroying of my mistress, the Great Cackletta. Not only the killing, the _destroying_. Watchers of the battle had the telling of me that her soul burst from her body and vaporized into the air of thinness. Fawful also had the defeat, before the battle, and was knocked out a window. Fawful had the refuge for a time, but...there came the time when Fawful needed to avenge himself and try again, so he had his own plan of evil. That was squashed by the brothers again, and the Koopa who is King. Fawful had the dying...so much pain, so many voices rattling in Fawful head like a tornado! Fawful had the death, but someone brought him back to the land of life.'  
'Dimentio?'  
'Yes, I am saying. Fawful is not only wanting revenge again on them all, but he is owing a debt to the jester of darkness, for saving Fawful from the Underwhere.'  
'Oh...' Mimi looked down. 'I guess if I was in your position, I'd do the same things...'  
'Fawful is not liking his position. He has seen the one who is you attacked and saddened, the tears dropping to the floor. Fawful has had the wanting...he wanted to stop Dimentio, but he can't.'  
'I can't tell you what to do Fawful...just do what your heart tells you.'  
'Ru?' Fawful looked at her. 'Where did you have the learning of that?'  
Mimi coughed. 'I picked it up from someone a long time ago.'  
Fawful smiled. 'It has sense, I am thinking.'  
'Fawful?'  
'Yes?'  
'What DOES your heart tell you?'  
Fawful looked down; Mimi wondered what he was thinking. 'Fawful's heart has been closed, as the only person he opened it to had her soul vanished. But...' He looked at her. 'Fawful is thinking...that...that he can open his heart again. To...to y-you.'  
Mimi's mouth opened. She did NOT expect that one. 'Um...what do you mean?'  
'Fawful is liking you...very much, more so than he has liked anybody. Fawful is hoping you are not angry at Fawful, and full of hate...'  
'Uh...' Mimi was still tongue-tied. 'I guess...'  
Fawful beamed again. 'Really? You are meaning it?'  
'Yeah...'  
Fawful laughed out of pure joy, throwing his hands into the air. 'I HAVE JOY!' he screamed. '!'  
'Whoa whoa whoa!' Mimi exclaimed. 'You're welcome!'  
Fawful looked at her. 'Fawful has made up his mind. Fawful will talk to Dimentio.'  
'Wha-but what about your revenge and stuff?'  
'Fawful is not caring! If Dimentio is having the kicking out of Fawful, then Fawful will avenge himself himself!'  
'...you know I'll have to stop you, if I ever get to leave here.'  
Fawful frowned, then shrugged. 'Fawful supposes that is being your choice.' He turned and made to leave, then turned to Mimi. 'Oh, Fawful needs to ask...'  
'Yeah?'

'Could you have the exiting of Fawful's room?'

Dimentio

Dimentio closed the door to his room, locking it tightly. He didn't even bother to turn on the lights; he simply didn't have the energy or willpower. Everything he had done, everything he was doing, now seemed so wrong, so despicable, so _evil_...and it never had before. He slumped down in his chair and sighed. What was the point? Every time he had envisioned it...a perfect world, ruled by him...it seemed so perfect. It would've been perfect! But now...it was all crumbling around him. His perfect world seemed worthless...and all because of Mimi. He winced as he replayed that Rubee smashing on the floor, the rose withering to dust. Over and over in his mind it replayed, like a broken record. That was it. That one, single event brought his mindset crashing down around him. He had been a hero, fighting for justice...or that's what he had thought. He looked in the mirror, seeing his masked face staring back at him. What had he become...?  
He stared at it, and it stared back. For a moment, Dimentio saw something he knew he himself wasn't doing; the reflection did the thing he had seen himself do numerous times: it smiled. It was that smug, deadly, magical smile that he wore on his face all the time. Seeing it for himself...seeing that face, that smile...Dimentio stared, open-mouthed, for a moment.  
Dimentio screamed at the top of his lungs, tearing the mask off his face and throwing it at the mirror. As soon as the mask struck it the mirror shattered to pieces, the mask tumbling to the ground, staring up with a blank smile. Panting, Dimentio stared at the spot the mirror had been in. He got up and slowly walked over to his mask, glad that he couldn't see his true face. A human face was bad enough, but at Castle Bleck...  
He picked his mask up and put it on, still panting. He knew the problem. He knew it easily.  
'Dimentio.'  
Dimentio turned to see Fawful looking at him, the door being opened and unlocked, though he didn't know how, and the shattered mirror on the ground. 'Fawful.' Dimentio said. 'What business do you have in my room?'  
'Fawful is wanting to talk to you.'  
'About _what_?'  
'Mimi.'  
Dimentio almost fell over; he'd had enough of Mimi for one eternity. 'What about Mimi?'  
'I am not liking the way you are treating her.'  
Dimentio gaped. 'What?'  
'You are treating her with much badness and I am wishing you would stop.'  
'You...you're telling me you want me to stop hurting her...why?'  
'Because Fawful is wanting to.'  
'Pah! You and I both know it isn't that simple. There's something else. You're a villain! You must have some kind of reason of your own.'  
'What if Fawful simply wishes you would stop?' Fawful shouted.  
'You DON'T though, and I know it.'  
'Fawful is simply wanting it!'  
'You're lying, I can tell!' Dimentio had honestly been brought to shouting now; a bad sign.  
'Fawful just wishes it!'  
'Why? Tell me now!' Dimentio demanded.  
'Because Fawful is loving her!' the Beanish boy screamed.  
The resulting silence was deafening.  
'What...did you say?' Dimentio asked in disbelief.  
'Fawful...is loving Mimi.'  
Thoughts blasted through Dimentio's brain, too quickly to make them out:  
_..._  
The thought of Mimi took over his brain for only a moment, and in that moment, he knew, more than ever, the problem with him...and now with Fawful.  
'You...love her...' Fawful nodded. 'Very well. I will leave Mimi alone.'  
Fawful was shocked. 'Really?'  
'Yes. Now go. It's night.'  
Fawful looked out the window. 'How are you telling? It always has blackness here.'  
'You learn after a while. I used to...live here.'  
'Fawful supposes so.' He turned. 'Be having a night of goodness, Dimentio.'  
Dimentio sighed, lowering his voice to a whisper to himself. 'I won't make any promises Fawful...'

Mimi

_Mimi was dreaming.  
In her dream, she was walking. Walking down a dark hallway of nothingness. She couldn't see anywhere. She didn't even know where she was going; she just walked forward. It was like something was calling her...but what?  
After a bit of walking, wondering, she began to hear something. A voice...it was singing._

Gods above, please hear my call,  
I search for a, prince brave and tall.

_Mimi listened to the voice...it was a soft, female voice, sweet as honey. Mimi ran; this had to be what was calling her. Whoever it was continued to sing._

I watch the starry skies above,  
Awaiting his soft voice...

_Mimi pushed herself harder. She needed to get to the end, to find this girl. Mimi swore she could see a small, white light._

In, the darkness, he'll be there,  
To hold me tight, and stroke, my hair.

_Mimi went into a full sprint. Who was this woman?_

I look, to the heavens, where the angels soar,  
Awaiting my, true love...

_Mimi shut her eyes and ran, ran as fast as she could, until she could run no longer. She sank to the ground, panting heavily. This was impossible...  
'He's so...evil...'  
Mimi's head shot up. She saw the silhouette of a girl, about her height. In front of her shone a bright, white light, almost like a screen. 'Who?' Mimi asked her. 'Who's evil?'  
'He never used to be...'  
'Who?' Mimi asked again. All the girl did was sigh. Mimi got up and walked beside her, looking at her. She was certainly interesting. She was as tall as Mimi, when she was closer, and was the same in her body dimensions; width and such. She had fair skin, the absolute perfect shade of white. She wore a glowing, pure white dress which flowed down to her feet, which were bare. Her hair was long, and went a bit beyond her neck, to the edge of her chest, and was strongly pink in colour, which Mimi found weird. Of course, Nastasia had pink hair too, but she wasn't human. The girl's eyes were also a shade of light pink. Her mouth was in a sad frown, and her hands hung limply by her sides. Mimi stared at her; as she had thought before, this girl was interesting, but she didn't know why...  
Mimi lowered her head to the floor, and saw that it was very shiny to the point of reflective. She could see herself and the girl perfectly in it. She saw that she was wearing the same, glowing white dress as the girl. It was such a nice dress, and she wished she could have it for real. As Mimi stared at herself, she thought of something. She lifted her hands to the elastics on her ponytails and pulled them off, letting her hair fall to her sides in the manner she always hated, right down past her neck to the edge of her chest. As she looked at herself, she gave a soft gasp; she and the girl looked exactly alike, aside from the colour of their skin, hair, and eyes. The angles of their faces, their body dimensions, the length and natural style of their hair...everything was the same. It was...scary.  
'He's so...evil...'  
'WHO?' Mimi yelled.  
The girl lifted one of her hands and pointed at the light. Mimi looked at it (it appeared to be a screen of some sort). On the screen was what looked like two kids, a little younger than Mimi, playing a game, maybe Tag or something, both of them laughing with glee. As she looked closer, she could see that one was a boy, and the other a girl. The girl was in fact a younger version of the girl that stood beside Mimi, and the boy...had very pale skin, longish hair that was half white and half black down the middle, and one bright yellow eye and one dull grey, lifeless one. He looked so happy, so innocent, so good. Mimi squinted at the boy; she had seen him before, somewhere. But where...?  
'He was so nice and kind before...' the girl muttered.  
'Okay...' Mimi said. 'I really want to know...WHO is "he?"'  
The girl raised her hand and pointed at the screen again. Mimi looked to see a still image of the boy, staring right at them. The white image clouded over in black smoke. Mimi felt, rather than heard, though she did hear it too, a beating. The beating of a heart. The smoke covered the boy, engulfing him, and the beating grew louder, and faster. Mimi felt it within her core. Who...was this boy?  
The smoke thinned, and a face was revealed. As soon as she saw it, Mimi's eyes widened. On the screen, another face stared back at them...but this one was covered by a white and black split mask.  
'He is so evil now...he used to be so kind...'  
'Dimentio...' Mimi breathed.  
'Yes...' The girl beside her closed her eyes, and a tear dropped onto the floor. The beating grew stronger. The girl lifted a hand to her chest, over her heart, where a fist-sized hole had been dug right through. 'Dimentio...'  
The beating stopped. The girl disappeared. Everything snapped to white. Mimi just stood there, in her changed dream. The white faded to a stone, grey room, like a dungeon. This was a room she had seen before...in Castle Bleck. An overwhelming desire to go there took hold of her. She needed to...and she would too, as soon as she-_  
-woke up.  
Mimi sat up, the desire to go to that room still burning. She immediately got up and walked out of her room, down the stairs to the dungeon room, and stopped. The desire had gone. Why was she even here? It was just an empty, stone room.  
'Hello Mimi,' a cold voice said as a hand gripped her shoulder.

Dimentio

Mimi immediately spun around to look the jester in the eyes. Dimentio would have smiled, like he always did, but he was still wearing a frown. He backed away from Mimi, to the front of the stairs. 'I wondered if implanting that desire in your dreams would lead you here. You have expanded my scope of magic Mimi.'  
Mimi glared at him. 'I don't care about that you freak! Why am I here?'  
'Because I wanted you to be.'  
'And why is that?'  
'I wanted to have a talk.'  
Mimi looked a little shocked. 'A talk?' About what?'  
'About Fawful.'  
'_Fawful?_ Why?'  
'He has taken a bit of a liking to you.'  
'Yeah, I know. He told me.'  
'Actually, it's more than that. He's in love with you.'  
Mimi shifted. 'I thought so...'  
'All my life, I've viewed love as a weakness, an imperfection. Fawful feels it toward you. I cannot have love in my helpers.'  
Mimi backed away. 'You're...what're you going to do?'  
Dimentio would have chuckled, but he didn't have the energy. 'That isn't the only thing though. If that were simply the case, I would lock you up in the cells, or send you away with no memory of your time here. Though perhaps I should have done that in the first place...'  
Mimi glared again, looking challenging. 'You've always seen love that way, haven't you? Just a weakness huh? That's just stupid.'  
'Yes, a weakness. Which is why I have always thought myself chosen to lead a perfect world without it.'  
'Hah!' Mimi sneered. 'You say you don't feel love?' She laughed. 'Well then...what about that girl you killed?'  
Dimentio gave a start. That was unexpected. 'Mimi, I've killed plenty of girls in my time. You'll have to be much more specific than that.' Mimi smirked; sure-fire evidence that she knew something about him that Dimentio wouldn't like her to. He grew nervous...this couldn't be good.  
'Should be easy enough for you to remember. She looked exactly like me, except with pink hair and eyes and white skin.'  
Dimentio's heart stopped in his chest. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in surprise and horror. His fingers twitched and he stepped backward, almost falling over. This couldn't be happening this couldn't be happening this couldn't be happening! Out of everything that could have happened, everything that she could have known, WHY did it have to be _THAT?_ Nothing had prepared Dimentio for this...nothing had ever thought he would have to come back to that...  
'Wh...where did you...how did you...how COULD you...?' All the mannerisms, all the smiles, all the things that made Dimentio different, in control, on top, everything he had established, left him. There was no more certainty, no more control. He just lost it all. All the control he had in his voice and his words vanished. This was more than he could handle. 'How do you know about her?'  
Mimi continued smirking. 'I had a dream.'  
Dimentio just gaped. 'You...you...'  
Mimi closed her eyes and began to sing. _'Gods above, please hear my call...'_  
'SHUT UP!' Dimentio roared. 'IF YOU DON'T CLOSE YOUR MOUTH THIS INSTANT I'LL TEAR IT OFF YOUR DISGUSTING FACE!'  
_'I search for a, prince brave and tall...'_  
'SILENCE!' Dimentio gave a stiff wave of his hands and Mimi was trapped in a glowing yellow box of pure, dimensional energy. His killing magic; the most potent of all his original spells. Dimentio was gasping for breath under all the mental abuse, sweating from behind his mask.  
Mimi obviously didn't expect that, because she went into panic mode, and rushed to the edge of the box, palms pressed on it. 'D-Dimentio! What're you doing?'  
'I've HAD it Mimi! HAD IT!' His fists were clenched. He couldn't believe it; he lost control of his temper, something he had never done before. He couldn't stop though; he had gone too far. 'All this time you've insulted me, taunted me...everything I HATED from you! And now...this! How could you have known about her?'  
'I...I don't even know! I just dreamt of her!'  
'That's impossible! Absolutely impossible!'  
'No, it's true! I...dreamt of you too.'  
'Yes, and what kind of devilry did you find? That you don't already know?'  
'None.'  
Dimentio was shocked at that statement. '...what?'  
'There was nothing bad! Nothing at all! I saw you and that girl playing Tag or something. That was it!'  
Dimentio winced as he remembered that moment, and dozens of moments like it. 'You...how...?'  
'She said you were so kind before! And nice! And now...she said you're just evil.'  
'YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!' Dimentio shouted. 'NOTHING!'  
'No, but she DID. And she said you were kind before! Underneath what you're normally like is someone _good_.'  
'How do you know?' Dimentio retorted. 'How do you know that wasn't just a dream?'  
'Your reaction, for one thing, and...I remember another time when you showed those good colours Dimentio.'  
Dimentio lowered his gaze. He did too...

_Mimi was crying, sobbing uncontrollably, in a field in some random dimension. She had gone to find some guys, and hoped to make a connection with one. Dimentio had followed her, hoping to destroy any chances of such a thing happening. He didn't like it when Mimi had luck with boys. When he saw her crying, however, his heart panged. Despite how incredibly irritating Mimi could be at times (though that was probably his fault), he hated to see her cry. It set something off in him he didn't like. Dimentio walked over to her and sat down, the smile off his face completely.  
'Mimi?' he asked.  
'Go away!' Mimi yelled through her tears. 'I don't want to hear you or your insults you meanie!'  
'I...actually wanted to know if you were okay.'  
Mimi looked thrown off. 'R-really...?' she sniffed.  
'Yes, I did. I...don't like seeing you cry.' He turned. 'What happened?'  
'All the boys are PIGS!' she exclaimed. 'They're all disgusting, perverted PIGS! None of them are nice, or kind, or gentlemanly! And one of them touched my butt!'  
Dimentio frowned. 'They sound unpleasant. Is there anybody I need to kill?' He meant it too. He hoped Mimi knew it.  
Mimi smiled weakly. 'No Dimentio, there's no one you need to kill for me.'  
Dimentio's frown deepened. 'Ah. Pity.'  
Mimi laughed. 'You know Dimentio, I really don't know what it is about you, but you've cheered me up a bit. I don't even know how.' She looked up to the sky above, smiling still. Dimentio snapped his fingers and held out his hand. Mimi looked at what he had in his hand: a sparkling, white rose. She gasped. 'Dimentio! Where...?  
Dimentio smiled, a sincere kind of smile, though it was a bit distorted by his masked face. 'Magic can do any number of things Mimi. You should know that by now, from living with me.' He held it out. 'For you.'  
Mimi eyed the beautiful rose with wonder. 'Really?' she breathed. 'It's for me?'  
'Of course.'  
Mimi looked a little sad. 'It's such a beautiful rose...' she said. 'But it'll die some time...'  
'Mm...' Dimentio agreed. 'Such a thing will go to waste and die...'  
'Wait, I know!' Mimi exclaimed. She picked the rose from Dimentio's hand and...ate it.  
'Wha...Mimi, what're you doing?'  
Mimi swallowed the rose, then spit something out of her mouth. It was a Rubee, one of the stones she could shoot. However, it wasn't the generic, solid red one she normally spit out. It was transparent, and you could see inside of it. In the centre of it, preserved for eternity, was the rose.  
'Now it'll never die, as long as it stays in here.' She tapped the Rubee.  
Dimentio was amazed. 'That's...incredible Mimi, really!'  
Mimi put it in a pocket on her dress. 'I'll keep it with me forever Dimentio...'  
'Um...' Dimentio was unused to this kind of response to his actions.  
'D-Dimentio...' Mimi muttered.  
'Yes Mimi?'  
'You know...how I said all guys are pigs and stuff?'  
'Yes, I know.'  
'Well...I was wrong.'  
'Oh? Did someone change your mind?'  
'Well that has to be obvious!'  
Dimentio frowned. 'I don't know-'  
In that moment, Mimi grabbed the edges of his mask, closed her eyes, lifted it up, and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Dimentio's eyes widened in shock and surprise, and he did nothing back to her.  
She moved away, and Dimentio had his mask back down by the time she opened her eyes again. He stared at her. 'M-Mimi...'  
'Dimentio...' she whispered.  
'Uh...we should get back to the Count.'  
'Yeah, I guess we should...' Mimi got up and smiled at him again, flipping back to Castle Bleck.  
Dimentio stared at the spot she had been. '...stupid girl. She has no idea the danger she's up against with me.' As he warped back, he knew in his heart that Mimi wasn't stupid...and that, even when the Count and everyone else was dead, and the worlds were his, he would do his best to ensure Mimi survived everything._

Dimentio's mind was blasted back to the present. Mimi was still staring at him from inside the box.  
'Dimentio,' Mimi said. 'You're better than this, I saw that in my dream. You don't have to be a villain.'  
'I AM NOT A VILLAIN!' Dimentio yelled, still enraged and overwhelmed. 'I am a hero! The ruler of a perfect new world!'  
'No! No you aren't! If you were meant to be a ruler of a perfect world, you'd already be one!'  
'Don't tell ME my destiny Mimi! Every love-infested creature I've met has told me of their pain, and the pain I cause them! Not one being knows of MY pain, MY suffering! I've gone through things no one should have to, and I'll do anything to eliminate it from happening to me again, or to anyone to ever live! A perfect world is my goal, my destiny!'  
Mimi looked at him sadly. 'You don't understand! You've closed yourself off with this dream of yours. Please, wake up from it!'  
Dimentio was so angry, and so sad, and frustrated, and every other negative emotion he could imagine. It was affecting his thinking, and he knew it. But he couldn't stop it. He wanted to scream at the stupid girl, to kill her, to banish her from his life for her insolence. Instead, he lowered his gaze.  
'Mimi...when I first saw you, you immediately reminded me of that girl...and I didn't know whether to love you or to hate you. Every little detail is the same...except your skin, hair, and eyes. Through all the time I was with you, you reminded me of her, though I've tried my best to ignore it. Over time, my feelings took over...I did everything in my power to crush your hopes, and dreams, to quell that feeling. I thought if you weren't yourself, I wouldn't feel those things. But...it didn't. It just made things worse, seeing you so upset. When things got out of hand...especially after that day with the rose...it couldn't be ignored. It became obvious...and I had to face facts. That angered me. Everything I had taught myself was being cast aside because of you. When I found out that Count Bleck had planned to leave all worlds in ruin, and leave the perfect world a dream...I had to take things into my own hands. I had planned to leave it all to him. I had thought he shared my vision. I was wrong. You all followed him, and I knew you wouldn't dream of betraying him, so I knew that I needed to kill you all. But after our moment...I needed to keep you save. I HAD to. But...it was either you or the perfect world...' He looked up at her. 'As it is now.'  
_Ba-bump._ The beat of a great, unseen heart reverberated through Dimentio. He was a little shocked, but kept his gaze.  
'What was that?' Mimi asked, worried.  
'You heard it too...' Dimentio muttered.  
_Ba-bump._ Another tremor shook them. _Ba-bump. Ba-BUMP!_  
Dimentio's own heart gave a great beat, in unison with the unseen pulses. As the tremors shook them, Dimentio's heart beat with them. He stared at Mimi, a strange look in his eyes.  
'Dimentio...' Mimi said nervously. 'What is this...?'  
'Mimi...my goal is a perfect world.' _Ba-bump!_ His fingers twitched. 'You're nothing but a distraction, to both Fawful and I.'  
'Dimentio...what're you saying?' Dimentio turned away. His heart was breaking. He had to do this...  
_Ba-bump!_ The beats got faster and faster, blocking out thoughts and almost sounds. Mimi looked terrified. Tears began to flow, and Dimentio was very glad he wasn't facing her.  
'D-Dimentio!' Mimi cried. 'Please, you don't have to do this!'  
'You're wrong Mimi...' Dimentio breathed. 'I very much have to do this...'  
_Babumpbabumpbabumpbabump!_  
'DIMENTIO!' Mimi screamed. 'PLEASE DON'T!'  
It was no use. Dimentio raised a shaking hand, almost against his will, his thumb and middle finger pressed together.  
_BA-BUMP!_  
Dimentio felt, in some part of his being, the Dark Prognosticus, resting in his room, give a pulse of dark energy. Behind his mask, Dimentio squeezed his eyes shut.  
'Dimentio, please!' Mimi pleaded. 'I...I love you!'  
Dimentio opened his eyes abruptly. The shaking stopped, the beats ceased. He turned his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye. She was completely horrified, and he felt his heart pang and regretted it. 'I...' he said. 'I love you too, Mimi.'  
Mimi looked hopeful for a moment. Dimentio sighed.  
'And that...' he concluded. 'Is why you have no place in my world...' One more beat sounded, one more tremor shook, and Mimi's face turned back to dismay as Dimentio, heart breaking, snapped his fingers, and the box she was in was engulfed in several fiery explosions. Mimi screamed as the flames swallowed her body, burning her. Her screams suddenly stopped as the explosions faded, and the smoke disappeared. When Dimentio looked, Mimi was gone.  
'So...' he muttered. 'That's it. Mimi...is dead.' He turned and began to walk up the stairs, a single tear falling from his eye behind his mask, onto the stone steps bellow. All the loves in his life were gone, hurtled into the void of death. In time, he knew he would feel better, back on his plans, back to the darkness. But not now. He had single-handedly killed his own perfect world...twice. It was Mimi now, but before...Dimentio sighed when his mind, temporarily freed from the darkness he embodied, was brought back to that girl with the pink hair.  
'Please...forgive me...' he whispered. 'Rosabella...'


	10. Chapter 10: Unmasked

Chapter 10: Unmasked

Fawful

Fawful walked along the corridors of Castle Bleck feeling increasingly nervous. He hadn't seen anyone around all day. The only occupants of the enormous castle were him, Dimentio, Mimi, and Peach and Bowser, the two prisoners. He liked gloating at the Koopa King, but that had worn down when Bowser had discovered that ignoring Fawful DID, in fact, work very well. For Peach it wasn't the same. There was nothing to gloat about. She had been kidnapped so many times that it really didn't matter anymore, and Fawful had no personal grudge against her. So he left both of them alone. As for Dimentio and Mimi...he hadn't seen either of them, so it was awfully quiet. An eerie silence hung over everything, and that, combined with the darkness that constantly engulfed the castle, that black hole thing that Fawful _still_ couldn't fathom, made Fawful scared, and almost expectant that a ghost was going to pop out and eat him. He shivered; he really hated ghosts.

'Dimentio?' he called out. No one answered. 'Mimi?' Still no one. 'ANYONE?' His voice echoed back. No one was here...

Fawful walked down the corridors, feeling shaky. Like it or not, he was still only a child, and he hadn't gotten over his irrational fears. He walked through the bedroom hallway, quietly as to not disturb anything. When he passed Dimentio's room, he walked a bit, then decided to walk back. He stood in front of the door. The last time he opened it he had forced entry with a machine he had, which was like a high-tech lock pick. The mirror in his room had been shattered, and Dimentio had looked _murderous._ The last thing he wanted to do at this point was incur the wrath of a dark, magical, sadistic madman. He knocked on the door instead.

'Dimentio?' he called. No one answered. There was no sound from inside. He closed his hand on the handle experimentally and turned it. He gave a push and the door slid open. Fawful gulped and crept inside, his curiosity piqued.

The room was swathed in darkness, giving it a creepy mood. There was no visible way to turn on any lights, but Fawful could see well enough. He couldn't believe how incredibly different it was from the rest of the castle. It was a light green colour everywhere he looked, with some dark green, swirly lines for decoration. Stars of the same shade were doted around the walls as well. A rather large bed was in a checkered design of two different shades of green. A purple desk was up against the wall and a purple closet sat in a corner, out of the way.

Fawful walked a little further inside, getting all the more creeped out, probably because he knew this was Dimentio's room. As he looked around, he saw that the mirror had been magically restored, and had a black cover over it. Lightning flashed from the centre of the black hole outside, and Fawful jumped, and almost screamed. He only just held his breath though. Walking further, looking around, he wondered why he was even in here. At first it was to find Dimentio, but now...it was just curiosity. He shuddered. There was something about this room...something foreboding. Something very dark...and he knew he had felt it before.

_Ba-bump._

Fawful gave a start. What was that? He looked around for the source of the noise; nothing. He supposed it had just been his imagination.

_Ba-bump._

He gave another start. Now he knew it definitely wasn't his imagination. But what was it? He strained his ears to listen...

_Ba-bump._

There. He got a clearer indication as to where it was. He looked and found himself looking at the desk at the wall. He walked up to it, carefully. He didn't know what this was.

_Ba-bump._

Fawful went down a few drawers, putting his hand on one. He felt it vibrate with the beats emanating from whatever was in it. He opened it up to see a dark, ancient-looking book, a blue pearl resting in its centre.

_Ba-bump._

He could practically feel the power flowing from it. Fawful frowned; he had seen it somewhere...

_'What is that book being?'_

_'Oh this? Nothing much, just a small novel to pass the time.'_

Fawful growled at the recognition; this was anything but a small novel. Dimentio had lied to him. He wondered how many other secrets he was keeping from him. He looked at the book; it felt so important, so powerful...and Dimentio wasn't around. _Ba-bump. _All he would have to do was take it. _Ba-bump._ He stretched out his hands...

_Ba-BUMP!_

...and touched the cover.

Images and sounds immediately bombarded Fawful's mind; images of darkness and death, and many other things.

_The black hole outside, looming menacingly. _The "Void"...he suddenly knew what it was called...how? He couldn't think, because more visions attacked him, beats and yells and ringing accompanying them.

_A dark heart, spinning at the Void's centre. _The "Chaos Heart"...

More images, more sounds, more chaos for Fawful. He squinted his eyes shut, but it didn't help.

For just a split second, another image flashed through his mind: _A person. A jester, clad in purple and yellow, a black and white mask covering his face._

Fawful let go of the book, falling backwards on the ground, the book flying out of the drawer onto the ground. Fawful was gasping for breath, sweat streaming down his face, mingled with tears. That was awful...the only other time he had felt something like that was with...the Dark Star. Fawful shuttered. The Dark Star had given him power, but...when he was Dark Fawful, he had changed, gone insane. His mind had been the same, but clouded with darkness. He didn't even register it at the time, and yet he had. If he had waited longer, he would have really noticed. When the Dark Star had completely absorbed him, as the Dark Fawful Bug...looking back on it now, that really was the worst time in his entire life, his second, current one included. The only thing worse than that was death. _Nothing_ was worse than death. Fawful looked at the book, panting. The beats from it had stopped. It was completely silent. Against his better judgement, he picked up the book. Nothing happened. He opened it to the first page, seeing a message at the top:

_The owner of this book is destined for misfortune._

Fawful didn't take that as a good sign. Flipping through the pages, he saw various messages. About half were written in sparkling, purple-black ink, the handwriting neat and curled, which he assumed to be Dimentio's. The other half was completely black, and was just generic. He didn't know who in the world could have been writing the other half; no one else other than him had had the book. Everything that was written made no sense; it was a back-and-forth conversation about some sort of seal. Whatever it was, Dimentio had been giving the other person a very difficult time.

Fawful frowned. 'I have confusion...' he muttered.

'I'm not surprised.'

Fawful jumped out of fright and spun around to find Dimentio looking down at him, a slight frown on his face. 'D-Dimentio!'

'And good morning to you too Fawful. I must say, I didn't expect to see you here.' His eyes travelled to rest on the book. 'What were you doing?'

'F-Fawful was...was...' Fawful was genuinely terrified; he was more scared of the jester at this moment than he had ever been.

'Looking at my book.'

Fawful gulped. '...yes. Fawful supposes he was looking at your book. F-Fawful didn't mean to!' he exclaimed as Dimentio lowered his eyebrows in slight anger. 'F-Fawful was just l-looking for you...a-and the book...it...'

'It called to you,' Dimentio said.

'Yes.' Fawful was surprised Dimentio knew that. 'Fawful had the hearing of heart beats from it.'

'Oh?' Dimentio raised an eyebrow. 'You don't say...' He looked directly at Fawful. 'What did you see?'

'Fawful had the seeing of many things of darkness. He had the seeing of the black hole and a dark heart.'

'The Void and the Chaos Heart...' Dimentio mused. 'Perhaps my plan can be changed...

'Your plan?'

Dimentio looked up. 'Oh, I meant our plan. Did you see anything else?'

'No, Fawful saw nothing else.' He decided he'd keep his vision of the jester to himself; Dimentio didn't need to know that. Fawful was still very perplexed; why had Dimentio been one of the things he had seen? Was he important to it?

Dimentio walked over and gripped the sides of the book. He closed his eyes and a look of relief passed over him. He opened his eyes and shut the book. 'You really should learn not to go through other peoples' belongings. Particularly mine. Some of them might get you killed.'

'Fawful must be asking...what is that book of darkness?'

Dimentio gave his trademark grin, sending shivers down Fawful's spine. 'My little Beanish partner, it is just that: a book of darkness. It has had many owners over time, each one falling, each one dying as many more wanted it for its renowned prophetic abilities. Every time one gazed into their futures, they were horrified, as this book foretold the destruction of all worlds. As it says on the first page: the owner of this book is destined for misfortune. Whoever wrote the book itself is completely unknown, lost to time. It is called...the Dark Prognosticus.'

Fawful frowned; he didn't know what that was. 'Who is doing the writing?'

'Ah, I'm very glad you asked. You see...there is a being inside the book.'

'I have confusion...'

'Actually, his soul, more specifically. It's what kept gave the Prognosticus it's power: a living entity. A seal was put on it, and I used my magic to make the seal slowly deteriorate. Soon it will break, and he will awaken. I initially had plans to have him aid us in our quest. A third head would aid our quest for domination, correct?'

'Fawful is agreeing. But...you said that the plan can be changed.'

'Yes. I have another idea...a much better one.'

Fawful waited. Dimentio didn't elaborate. 'What is that change being?'

'Ah, I believe I will keep that to myself. I assure you, it will speed up our quest quite a bit though.' Dimentio chuckled.

'Fawful is having another question.'

'Yes?'

'Where is Mimi?'

Dimentio stiffened. 'I...sent her away.'

'What are you meaning?'

'I decided I could keep her here no longer, so I sent her back. I released her.'

'You did?' Fawful's heart rose. This was more than he expected would happen when Dimentio had said he'd leave Mimi alone. She was a captive no longer.

'Yes. You won't see her around the castle anymore.'

Fawful gave a toothy grin. 'Fawful is glad. I am thanking you Dimentio.'

'You are welcome.'

'Fawful is wondering...when will the Phase of third of our plan begin?'

Dimentio grinned. 'Immediately.'

'Which of the fink-rats will be our next victim of helplessness?'

'Whichever one we can get. The Brothers are much more deadly than our last two victims. We can't trick them, or easily kidnap them. If we can secure Luigi, then we will. If Mario, then we will. If both, then that gets the list completed now.'

'I have understanding. Fawful will put the touches of finishing on a few of his weapons.'

'Very well.'

Fawful ran off, eager to bring his fury down on the duo who killed his mistress. This was what he had been waiting for.

Dimentio

Dimentio warped into Peach's Castle grounds and knocked on the doors. A Toad opened them up. 'Oh, hello. Welcome to Peach's Castle.' He looked nervous. 'Things have been really crazy since the Princess got kidnapped again. Hope you don't mind.'

'Of course not,' Dimentio assured, and walked inside.

The castle itself wasn't very busy. In fact, no one was really around. All the Toads must have gone on leave or something. Without the Princess to guide them, they all seemed incompetent to lead. You would think that, considering the number of times the Princess had been kidnapped, they would nominate someone to lead them in their stead. Actually, they really should try and upgrade the security. There had to be some form of defence other than the Mario Bros. for the Princess. Dimentio supposed not. If there was, Bowser would stop trying.

'The Mario Brothers wouldn't happen to be anywhere around here, would they? I would like a word with them.'

'Yeah actually. They've been here all the time since that green guy came in and took Peach. Those poor guys have been working so hard to try and find her.'

'Might I be directed to them?'

'Sure. They're in the conference hall, down that hall and through the doors on the right.' He pointed down a hall.

'Many thanks,' Dimentio said, walking to the conference hall. He smirked. _Soon there will be no Princess and no heroes to save her. What a pathetic creature._

He knocked on the door. It was opened by Mario, who jumped at the sight of Dimentio's masked face. 'Dimentio!' he breathed. 'You really need to tell us you're coming.'

'Ah, forgive my sudden appearance. Might I join you?'

'If you want. We need all the help we can get.' Mario walked in. Dimentio followed, pressing a button on his tracker, signalling for Fawful to come soon. 'Blumiere and the rest are out. They said they thought something important was out here somewhere.'

'Ah, interesting. I would assume you have found a lead on the Princess?'

'Ha! Hardly,' Luigi huffed. 'We can't find _anything_ about Fawful. No one's seen him at all. For all we've found, he might as well not be in this dimension.'

'He's good at hiding, that's for sure,' Mario agreed. 'He hid under the castle for the longest time and nobody ever knew.'

'Hm...interesting.'

'Do you have any leads?'

'I'm afraid not. I don't know nearly as much about him as you do.'

'Darn.' Luigi yawned. 'How much sleep have we gotten bro? You know?'

'Not nearly enough,' Mario complained. 'This is the worst kidnapping that's ever happened. We have nothing to go by.'

'What about that time when Peach was kidnapped by those X-Naut guys?'

'Even then I still had things to collect which led me to her, and people helping me. Now there's nothing.' He sighed. 'This is pointless.'

'Now now Mario, don't lose hope. I'm sure something will happen. Actually...' He gave a light grin. 'Didn't Fawful say he was coming back to get both of you? All you must do is wait until he arrives. Then we can subdue him and force the Princess' location out of him.'

'Sounds like the best plan we have,' Mario admitted. Dimentio pressed another button. Fawful would be here in 10, 9, 8—

_BOOM!_

Or earlier was fine too.

As the wall blew to pieces, Fawful flew in. 'I HAVE FURY!' he shouted at the top of his lungs.

'Why do you always have to blow stuff up?' Luigi yelled, taking on a fighting stance, Mario doing the same.

'Fawful is liking his dramatic entrances,' he explained. He pulled out his blaster. 'And he is also liking the destroying of you fink-rats!' He jumped off the platform and aimed it at them. 'I HAVE—'

_Thud!_ Mario stomped on Fawful's head forcefully, then turned around and kicked him, sending him to the ground. He got up, growling. Mario ran at him, and he shot him with his blaster, sending a jolt down his system. Luigi ran at Fawful and jumped. Fawful ran forward and Luigi accidentally stomped on his brother. Mario yelled out in pain. 'Mario!' Luigi exclaimed. He jumped off him and Mario groaned. 'Sorry bro.'

Mario got up. 'That's fine.'

They ran in opposite directions around Fawful. Luigi jumped up, Mario ran at him. Fawful instinctively shot Luigi, who tumbled to the ground. Mario punched Fawful in the chest and kicked him a few feet. 'Ugh...' Fawful groaned. 'Fawful is needing more weapons...' He pressed a button on his ring and his platform flew in. He jumped on it, stepped on a certain part of it, and missiles launchers popped out, glinting in the sunlight. He fired them at the brothers, who nimbly dodged most of them. One hit Luigi square in the chest, exploding on contact. Mario kicked one, thinking it would rebound back at Fawful. Instead, it just exploded. Both of them got up slowly.

'This guy's tough...' Luigi said.

'Always has been.'

'I have toughness!' Fawful gloated. He stepped on another switch and a chain with a claw on the end came out of the bottom. It clamped around Luigi, and Fawful laughed. 'Mustaches both have pain!' he yelled as Luigi smashed into Mario. 'Fawful is having much fun!'

Dimentio watched the fight, grinning. This was going well. The Mario Bros. were no match. Time to add his own little part in it. Dimentio snapped his fingers and the chain broke in half. Mario helped Luigi out of the claw and both of them faced Fawful. 'Well well, our little nemesis shows his face once again,' Dimentio said mockingly. 'Your efforts are all in vain, however. Now...' He waved his finger and an energy attack was generated. 'Now surrender at once.'

'Fawful has defiance!' he yelled, sticking out his tongue. More missiles appeared. 'And now you have deadness!' He fired them all. Dimentio warped behind him.

'Ah ha ha! You'll have to do better!' He shot the attack at Fawful. It hit the platform, knocking it off balance. Fawful tumbled to the ground and the platform fell almost on top of him. Almost.

'Grr...' Fawful snarled. 'Fawful had the awakeness all night of longness to fix that!'

'I suppose that's your loss.'

Fawful pointed his blaster at him. 'HAVE DEATH, STUPID CLOWN!' He turned the setting on its highest and fired. The blast hit Dimentio in the face, knocking him off his feet. Enormous pain shot through his entire body, numbing him to the core. He got up, giggling, slightly disoriented from the pain.

'Ah ha ha...little fool. Technology can only do so much.' He disappeared, and three more of him reappeared. 'Can you multiply, for instance?' all the of them mocked. They all fired three attacks at once. Fawful ducked and weaved in a panic, trying to avoid them. A few actually hit the Mario Bros. 'Oh, so sorry!' one of the Dimentios said. 'I really must learn to check my aim.' A blast hit him in the chest, and the other Dimentios disappeared in puffs of smoke, the real one tumbling to the ground. 'And hold my voice, it seems...'

Fawful aimed the gun at him again. 'Have moving! I am wanting the mustaches!'

'Then grow one yourself,' Dimentio snickered.

'THAT IS NOT WHAT I AM MEANING!' Fawful roared, though it came out in a little squeak.

'Oh, I know.'

Fawful grinded his large teeth together, and Dimentio could see that, despite the fact that they were really on the same side, he was really getting under Fawful's skin.

'Now surrender,' Dimentio commanded. 'And kindly tell us where the Princess is.'

Fawful glared at him. 'Never.'

'Well then, the least I can do is rid this kingdom of a villain.' He made to snap his fingers.

'Stop!'

Everyone turned to face the door. Blumiere and Timpani had walked in. 'Ah, my dear Count and his lover! How nice to see you!'

'Silence Dimentio,' Blumiere commanded. 'Shut your mouth and quit your acting.'

'Hm? I don't know what you mean.'

'We know about your plan,' Timpani said.

'I really don't understand.'

'Dimentio,' another, weak, female voice called. Nastasia and O'Chunks walked out in front, supporting...Mimi. 'We know about your plan.'

Dimentio reeled, eyes widened. This was impossible! Impossible! He threw his hand straight up in the air, and a blast of dark energy shot out from it in all directions, shattering windows, cracking the stone walls, and throwing everyone to the ceiling. They crashed on it, then fell to the ground in heaps. 'Fawful!' he barked. Fawful got up, struggling. 'Secure Luigi! I'll secure—'

_Smash!_ A white gloved hand collided with Dimentio's face with enough force to break bones. He felt on his back, a deep crack on his mask. '...Mario.' he finished. He struggled to his feet to see the red plumber facing him, fists out.

'You traitor!' he shouted accusingly.

'Oh Mario, you should know that I'm not a traitor. I planned this from the start, right under your big, round nose. It was all so—'

_Smash! Smash! Smash! _Mario punched and punched and punched, more cracks developing on Dimentio's mask. Mario threw an uppercut, knocking the mask clean off his face, and knocking him backwards. As Dimentio fell, seeing the mask fly off, he knew he had made a fatal mistake trying to kill Mimi.

His head hit the ground, and he heard his mask do the same a moment later. Sunlight trickled his face, and he instantly regretted underestimating Mario once again. Mario walked up to him. 'It's over Dimentio,' he said.

'On the...contrary...' Dimentio grunted through the pain. He sat up. Mario's eyes immediately widened, his face turning white. He staggered backwards. 'It's only just begun.' Dimentio could also see Fawful's face turning very pale as he looked at him. Dimentio could understand why. He looked in a large shard of glass, seeing his own faint reflection. He had the same facial angles he had before, and his hair was the same, and eyes colours, but he was altogether very different. His skin was the same colour as Blumiere's and Nastasia's, albeit a little darker. His yellow eye was bulged, and much larger than his other one. His teeth were sharpened to points, like fangs, and a little yellow. Other parts were mismatched, and his ears were slightly pointed. He was hideous, like a monster. Though he didn't entirely believe that it was simply his appearance that scared them. It was the feeling they got, the evil, dark feeling. He seemed to emit death itself. That was what scared them.

Dimentio pulled himself to his feet, walking toward Mario. 'By night, I don a human form, but by day...I am this.' Mario stepped back, shaking. 'Day and night...black and white...my identity is split...just like my mask. Such is my curse, to carry for eternity. Or...almost.' He looked at Blumiere. 'The Prince of the Tribe of Darkness...' he grinned devilishly, and Mario fell backwards. 'Mario!' he challenged. 'Your brother is ours.' He gestured at Fawful, who had Luigi's limp form in his possession. 'You should know where we reside by now. Come to Castle Bleck. We will settle our score there. The Heroes of Prophecy...you are all that remains. Will you win? Or me?' He threw a blast of darkness at Mario, hurling him across the room and into the wall. 'We will see.' Dimentio looked at Fawful, who was shaking. 'Take Luigi to the prison cells and lock him up. I will join you soon.' Fawful nodded, still shaking, and flipped out, taking Luigi with him.

Dimentio walked over to his mask. He picked it up, magically fixing the gouges in it. He looked directly at Mimi's unconscious form. 'Mimi...' he whispered. 'Why are you alive?' He put the mask on. 'I suppose, in the end...I simply didn't want to kill you. So...instead of dying and going to the Underwhere...you ended up here.' He knew that the best thing to do would be to just kill her now. But he couldn't, not now. He couldn't possibly bring himself to kill her, not while he felt what he did. He warped out, feeling a little of adrenaline rush through him. The final battle was coming up fast. Mario would come, and then he would die. Dimentio would do everything in his power to see that end. His plan was coming to a close.

_Come to me...Hero of Prophecy. Let me see what you are truly made of._


	11. Chapter 11: Showdown

Chapter 11: Showdown

Mario

Mario flipped into Flipside, holding his candy cane-patterned Return Pipe in his hand. He had kept it in his house, just in case he ever needed to return to Flipside. Flipside itself was kind of in a tan bubble, Mario always guessed. The floors were made of stones of different colour. Dark blue in the basements, brown on the first floor, and beige on the second and third. There were gates all around, and houses lined the sides, some made of wood, some of stone. Grey pillars held up the other floors, green vines twisting up them. Mario never did know how it could sustain itself, considering how small it was. It was an interesting little dimension. Actually, it wasn't a dimension at all. It was the place _between_ dimensions. Mario still didn't know what that meant.

He walked slowly down the short streets, watching the residents come and go, his golden Ultra Hammer was clipped onto his belt. He knew he'd need it. He opened the door of Sweet Smiles, owned by a kind woman named Saffron.

'Oh!' she exclaimed as Mario walked in the door. 'Mario! Flipside's wonderful saviour!' She smiled. 'Of course, it wasn't just us you saved from the Void that day, was it? Every dimension needs to thank you, and the other three heroes too!' Mario's crestfallen look deepened. 'Mario?' Saffron asked, concerned. 'Is something wrong?'

Mario looked up at her. 'I'd like to have a few foods Saffron. I'll need them...'

'"Need them?" Need them for what?' Mario just gave her a sad look. 'Oh, are you going adventuring again?' Mario nodded. 'Well then of course! I have a few things already made up in the kitchen. You can have them, free of charge of course!'

'Are you sure?'

'I wouldn't have it any other way, not if you need them to save the worlds again.'

'Thanks. That means a lot.'

'No problem at all dear, none at all.'

Mario, after buying some items from the shop, knocked on the door of a large building. It was light blue at the bottom, fading up to a dark purple near the top. The roof was green. Three stars were present on both sides of the blue double doors, which also had plenty of tiny stars on them. Three larger stars were near the top of the house.

The door opened and an old man walked out. He was wrapped in a blue cloak, which was held together at the throat by a green, spherical button, with a star in the center. He had a turban the same colour as his cloak. From what Mario could see, what was beyond his cloak was the same substance as the Flipside "bubble." He had a long mustache, which flowed down to his feet, swirling and looking almost like clouds.

'Mario!' the old man exclaimed.

'Merlon,' Mario said, smiling slightly. 'Good to see you again.'

'And the same to you! Come on inside. ' They walked in. The inside of Merlon's house was much like the outside, made to look like the starry sky. Pots, and vials were sitting here and there, and a large book shelf rested in the back. On a small, turquoise table, a white book rested. A square with no fill went around the edges, and two circles, one smaller than the other, and inside the larger one, were in the middle. A drawing of a yellow star was in the exact centre. 'I must say, this was unexpected.' He noted Mario's hammer. 'I see you're armed. And crestfallen. What ails you, Hero?'

Mario sighed. 'I guess that's just it. I'm the only hero left. Luigi, Peach, and Bowser are gone. They've been kidnapped by Fawful, an old enemy of mine, and...by Dimentio.'

Merlon almost fell over. 'Dimentio?' He seemed to lose his breath. 'That fiend has returned? How?'

'I don't know Merlon. I don't know. I just need your guidance before going off to find them.'

'Well, I'm afraid I can't be much help. I don't know what they're like.'

'Does the Light Prognosticus say anything that might help us?'

Merlon looked grave, yet intrigued. 'Actually, no. In fact, something very interesting happened a while ago; all the writing in the Light Prognosticus disappeared, save for a single sentence: _This book is the light that shines through the darkness._ Right on the first page.'

Mario was taken aback. 'How could that happen?

'The only thing that comes to mind is if the same thing was forced upon its sister prophecy, the Dark Prognosticus. Someone must have tampered with it, removed the prophetic texts.'

'Dimentio,' Mario concluded.

'Most likely,' Merlon said. 'I'm afraid I can be of no use to you Mario. I have no wisdom to bestow. The only thing I can do is see you off.'

'That would be appreciated.' Mario smiled. 'We need to go to Flopside Tower. They're in Castle Bleck.'

Merlon nodded. 'Let's go then.'

They exited the house, walked down the street, and pressed on a floating black square with a downwards facing, red triangle. An elevator was drawn out of nothing and opened up. Merlon and Mario stepped in it and went down to the first floor. They walked through a gate and down a long, catwalk-like road, opening the door of an ancient-looking building. It has four stained glass pictures of Tribe of Ancient and Darkness descendants, looking similar to Merlon. A mirror rested in the middle on the wall. Mario and Merlon stepped into it to the exact same room, except it was reversed. Going out the door and back down the catwalk, they were still in Flipside. Actually, that's what it was to the untrained eye. The stones were much older, the gates in poor condition, and the buildings much more shabby and run-down. The people themselves looked a little less happy-go-lucky, with different colour skin. The entire layout was a mirror image of Flipside. Merlon's house was a purple shade (even the roof) and the tower, which in Flipside had been white, was black. This was Flopside. Flipside's polar-opposite.

They went over to Merlon's house and knocked on the double doors. A figure who looked identical to Merlon, with the exception of having grey clothes, and the substance beyond his cloak was red, stepped out.

'Mario and Merlon!' he exclaimed. 'What a pleasant surprise!'

'Hello Nolrem,' Mario said, the awkward name bouncing off his tongue. Nolrem. Merlon spelt backwards. Mario found that interesting still.

'What brings you to Flip and Flopside once again Mario?' Nolrem asked. Mario explained the situation. 'Ah...that is grave news indeed. And you need access to Flopside Tower I would guess.'

'Yes. They're in Castle Bleck.'

'Well then, by all means, I will see you off as well.'

They exited the house and went to the base of the Tower, pressing a button on the doors on it. They opened up and the three of them stepped in. When it reached the top, they stepped out and it disappeared into thin air, leaving a floating block in its wake. An incredibly large, arched, black door, with elaborate purple patterns, stood tall, apparently leading to nothing on the other side. Just a door.

'Here it is,' Merlon said. 'The door to the late Count Bleck's castle.'

'Actually, Blumiere's alive and in the Mushroom Kingdom.'

'Oh?' Merlon and Nolrem raised an eyebrow each. 'You don't say?'

Mario faced the door, preparing himself. He remembered each kidnapping that had happened: Dimentio stating that Bowser had been teleported away. Fawful flipping out, Peach in tow. Luigi suffering the same fate. He clenched his fist; he was going to rescue them all, and make sure neither Fawful nor Dimentio ever came back. They had died once. They would die again for their crimes. Mario pressed on the door, and both sides swung open to reveal a black nothingness, as the six doors from Flipside Tower did when they were opened.

'Merlon...Nolrem...' Mario said. 'Both Dimentio and Fawful are dangerous, and were able to capture three of the four heroes. If I don't come back...I want you both to know that you both have been of great help to me.'

'Thank you Mario,' Merlon said.

'Is it time for you to go?' Nolrem asked.

Mario nodded. 'Yeah.' He took a step, then another, then another. He stepped into the nothingness and the door closed shut behind him.

There was no turning back now.

Dimentio

Dimentio put on his mask, sitting on the platform that Count Bleck had occupied in the main hall of Castle Bleck. The main hall was huge; very wide and very tall and very empty, completely black with white outlines, like the rest of the castle. Various, checkered platforms, or pillars if you wanted, stood scattered throughout the room, some higher up or taller than others. The bottoms couldn't be seen, fading into the darkness.

Dimentio smiled to himself, all previous thoughts of Mimi gone. Just touching the Dark Prognosticus was like a refresher; he was back to his regular self again. Mario would be coming soon, and Dimentio would be ready. He couldn't wait to finally have his ultimate revenge, and crush the life out of all four Heroes of Prophecy. Nothing would stop him after that.

The black, white patterned doors at the end of the room opened and Fawful walked in, looking ecstatic. 'I have success!' he beamed.

'Oh, Fawful!' Dimentio regarded. 'What have you succeeded in?'

'Fawful had the putting of the touches of finality on his machines!' he answered. He looked at his tracker. 'They have the recharge now.'

'Excellent!' Dimentio exclaimed, clapping his hands together. 'And just in time too.' He grinned evilly. 'The fourth Hero approaches.'

Fawful became tense. 'He is here?'

'Yes. He just entered the dimension.'

Fawful grinned widely, showing many of his large, white teeth. 'I have anticipation! Today is the day Fawful's revenge is served, like a triple-decker sandwich with the lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and mustard! The mustard...of DOOM!' He laughed insanely. 'The mustard of doom which the mustache will be choking on! My fury will rain down upon them like many angry lightning bolts thrown by the Great Cackletta!' He realized what he had said and fell silent.

'Missing your mommy Fawful?' Dimentio mocked. Fawful said nothing on the topic.

'Fawful is wondering...why are you calling Mario and the rest "Heroes?"'

'Because that's what they are. They are the heroes spoken of in the Light Prognosticus, made to counteract the Dark one. Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser were the Heroes. They defeated me before. That is why I want revenge.'

'And when they have the deadness, nothing will be in the way of Dimentio and Fawful!' Fawful said.

Dimentio nodded, grinning. 'Nothing at all.'

Time passed as Mario made his way through the Castle. After a time, the doors to the main hall finally opened and Mario, the forth Hero of the Light Prognosticus, walked slowly in. The doors closed shut.

'Well, well, _well_...' Dimentio whispered. 'The forth Hero finally arrives. We've been waiting for you.'

'Dimentio...' Mario said curtly. 'I've come to rescue my friends.'

Fawful laughed. 'The mustache arrives!' he cackled. 'Your destruction will be the icing on the cake of my revenge!' He paused and gave a thought. 'No, Fawful was mistaken. The green mustache was the icing. YOU will be the strawberry on the top!'

'Fawful...' Mario said. 'You're going to pay for this. And you too Dimentio.' He clenched his fists. 'This is too much.'

'Oh Mario, why not give up now? It's all for the best, you know. A perfect world.' He grinned.

'Any world with you in it is imperfect Dimentio. You should know that, considering the pain you caused.'

Dimentio stiffened, Mario's words reflecting what Mimi had said before. 'You're all so naive. I only have the best interests for the worlds. Fawful and I, we'll make quite the rulers. Correct Fawful?'

'Fawful agrees.'

Mario sighed. 'You guys just will never get it. You may have good intentions, but if hurting people and taking over is what's involved, you'll only be villains.'

'Pah! Pathetic humans such as yourself will never understand the minds of those more intelligent!'

'I don't even know why I bother trying...' Mario muttered.

'Make with the shut up!' Fawful commanded. 'Your talking bores Fawful, like boring bread for dinner! Are you being here to make boring talk, or to have the saving of your friends?'

'Saving my friends,' Mario answered.

'Then let the show begin!' Dimentio exclaimed with flair.

*Smiles*

Mario did a back flip into the air, landing and spinning around, taking on a fighting stance. 'Let's-a-go!' he challenged, using his trademark catch phrase.

Fawful took out his blaster, putting the setting to its very highest, and sparks of dark magic danced from Dimentio's fingertips. 'The battle to save the worlds...' Dimentio murmured. He shot Mario a crazed look. 'It's Showtime!' he shouted. Mario ran at the two of them, jumping up on the platforms and towards the two villains.

'I have...' Fawful began. Dimentio hurled Fawful into the air and out of Mario's attack with magic, while warping out of it himself.

Fawful landed on a nearby platform. 'BATTLE!' he finished, shooting laser blasts galore at Mario, who dodged them with expert skill. He jumped up and made to hit Fawful, but Dimentio warped in front of him and flew right into him, grabbing Mario's shoulders with his hands and smashing him on the floor below. Dimentio warped again upon impact. Mario gritted his teeth and took out his hammer, holding it with both hands. Fawful pressed a button and his platform warped in. Fawful jumped on it and flew at Mario, smashing into him and causing him to fly several feet. He landed upright and jumped on to Fawful's platform as it flew by, brandishing his hammer.

'I thought this was destroyed twice,' Mario noted.

Fawful grinned wickedly. 'Midbus' platform only needed some improvements.' He shot at Mario, who dodged the shot. He punched Fawful's stomach and kicked him. He sank to the ground, seemingly in pain. Before Mario could make a move, Fawful pressed a button on the platform and a classic boxing glove on a spring popped out, hitting him in the chin. Fawful stuck the gun up under his throat. 'Any words of lastness, mustache?'

'Wall.'

'What?'

The platform ALMOST crashed into the wall, but sensed it first and veered away to the side, both Fawful and Mario flying off balance. They fell off, the platform coming back to save Fawful. Mario got up and swung his hammer in practice. Dimentio warped in front of him.

'Greetings Mario!' he beamed. Mario swung, and he warped behind him. 'You'll have to do better than that!' He swung again, and Dimentio warped above him. 'Come now, you're boring me.' Mario swung his hammer up, Dimentio warped, and Mario quickly brought it down in front of him as a guess. The hammer met it's mark, cracking Dimentio's skull. He sank to his knees, clutching his head. Mario brought his hammer up, and Dimentio raise a hand and hit him with a block of magic before he could do any more damage. Fawful flew by, and hurled a bunch of explosives at them. Dimentio warped away, seeing Mario struggle with the explosions as he went. When he reappeared at another spot in the room, he saw Fawful dropping more explosives.

'Fawful!' he shouted. 'Throw a bunch at me!'

Fawful wasted no time. He flew over and hurled a ton of them in Dimentio's direction. Dimentio put his hand up and spun it around, causing the explosives to orbit around him quickly. He pointed at Mario, and the explosives shot at him like a machine gun. Mario dodged them and jumped at Dimentio, kicking him off the platform he was on. Fawful stepped on another button and missile launchers popped out of his hover platform. He fired them all, and Mario dodged them all with the gymnastics skills he was renowned for, jumping up and kicking the last one, sending it back at Fawful. He sent his platform in a dive, almost falling right off it, and the missile flew past it.

Dimentio hopped down. 'This is getting tiresome...' he muttered. 'Time to step things up.' He warped into an unknown realm, and three of him came back, two of them simply illusions. 'Now Mario, for the fuller extent of my magic!' The three Dimentios raced towards him, all shooting three blocks of magic at once. Mario dodged them, swinging his hammer at one. It flew right threw it, not harming it at all. So, that one was a fake. The Dimentios flew around quickly, switching positions. Mario followed the fake one, not wanting to lose it. Mario took a swing, which the three jesters dodged, and dodged the magic blasts. Mario tried to take a swing, but was distracted as Fawful flew in, firing shots. He looked in front of him to see one of the Dimentios. He yelled out in surprise and cringed, flinging his hands in front of his face. The platform flew right through it, much to Fawful's surprise. Mario, knowing which one the real one was, stomped down hard on it, the fakes disappearing in puffs of smoke. Dimentio teleported next to Fawful, issuing a plan. Fawful nodded, and flew directly at Mario, while Dimentio warped behind him. Mario back flipped behind Dimentio, thinking Fawful would crash into him. Dimentio, knowing that would happen, moved to the left. He stretched out his magical grip and spun Fawful around him and threw him at Mario, who was hit by the platform and stuck fast. Fawful shot his head with the gun, causing him to fall off. Mario got up, painfully, and pulled out a Fire Flower, which looked like a bright orange rose with closed eyes.

'What is THAT?' Dimentio spat.

'Uh-oh!' Fawful exclaimed.

He crushed it in his hand, and both his hands lit on fire. He spun around and shot many powerful fireballs at both villains. Dimentio warped and Fawful tried at dodge it, but one hit the underside and sent Fawful flying off of it. Mario put both of his hands together, waiting. Dimentio warped near him and Mario hit him with a really powerful blast of flame. Dimentio crashed to the ground, scorched. Mario's power ran out.

'Ah ha ha ha!' Dimentio laughed. 'Mario, you are quite the adversary, very worthy of the title of Foe to the Charming Magician! However...' he tensed. 'It's time to draw the curtain!' He disappeared and reappeared. After that, another one appeared. Then another. Then another. Soon the entire room was filled with Dimentios, all but one an illusion. 'WHICH ONE IS REAL?' they all boomed at once, their voices reverberating around the hall. 'AND WHICH ONES ARE FAKE?' Mario and Fawful both covered their ears. All the Dimentios put their fingers in the air and spun them around. They were going to shoot numerous blocks of magic. 'SAY HELLO TO MY FRIENDS IN THE UNDERWHERE MARIO!'

Mario pulled out a Shooting Star, which looked like just that, and held it aloft. It glowed vibrantly, and a ton of shooting stars fell from nowhere, zooming through all of the fake Dimentios. Somewhere, one of the shooting stars struck the real one, and every one of the illusions disappeared in puffs of smoke. Dimentio fell to the ground.

'My my...' he breathed, hurting. 'What an interesting maneuver.'

Fawful went over to Dimentio. 'I have pain...' he muttered, clutching his stomach where Mario had punched and kicked him earlier.

'Ready to give up yet?' Mario taunted, panting as well.

'Hah!' Dimentio scoffed, putting his hand up, a ball of dark energy appearing in it, energy sparks crackling. 'Not yet.' Dimentio held Mario in place by magic, struggling as Mario tried to break free. He snapped his fingers and Luigi, Peach, and Bowser appeared, bound in chains of magic. 'Heroes! Witness the death of your only hope! And the destruction of the rest of you!' All three of them bore looks of the worst level of hopelessness. Dimentio turned to Mario. 'I'll make sure your soul doesn't reach the afterlife!'

'Goodbye, man of red mustache!' Fawful cackled.

'MARIO!' all three captives screamed.

'STOP!' someone commanded, and the doors flew open.

Blumiere, Timpani, Nastasia, O'Chunks, and Mimi all walked into the room, determined looks on their faces. The sight of them distracted Dimentio enough for Mario to break free of his grip. Dimentio abandoned the dark energy ball.

'What...' he asked, surprised, 'are you doing here?'

'We've come to stop you!' Timpani answered.

Fawful was surprised as well. 'I have shock,' he said. 'Fawful was not expecting you.'

Mimi gave Dimentio a hurt look, and Dimentio shifted. 'Dimentio...how could you?'

'Oh Mimi, it was all for the best.'

Fawful looked confused. 'What is she talking about?' he asked.

'I can't believe you...' Mimi continued.

'Don't act so surprised. It was necessary,' Dimentio replied.

'Dimentio, what is this all meaning?' Fawful shouted.

'YOU TRIED TO KILL ME!' Mimi screamed at the jester.

Fawful choked. 'Wh-what did she say?'

Dimentio grinned a bit. 'Oh dear...'

'Dimentio! Be telling me this instant!' Fawful demanded.

'Yes!' Dimentio admitted. 'I tried to kill you Mimi. And I would have succeeded, if not for this little emotion called "love."'

'D-Dimentio?' Fawful exclaimed. 'Why did you not have the telling of Fawful?'

'It was a secret that needed to be kept,' Dimentio answered.

'Fawful is not liking secrets! You have had the keeping of many secrets from Fawful, when Fawful wishes to know everything about our plan!'

'Oh _shut up._' Dimentio interjected. Fawful gaped at him. 'It has never been _our_ plan, Fawful. It has only been _my_ plan, from the very beginning. My plan, for a perfect world. My plan, to eliminate the heroes. MY plan, to wipe out all the competition, and then _stab you in the back_ at the very end! It has always been MY plan, and you played right into it, like the perfect, little, naive pawn you are!'

'I...I...I HAVE FURY!' Fawful screamed, aiming his blaster at Dimentio, who disarmed him with a snap of his fingers.

'Ah ha ha! You pathetic creatures. I had you right where I wanted you for the whole time. And now...it is time to die.'

'Dimentio...' Mimi said. 'Why? Why are you doing this?'

'For a perfect world,' he answered. 'It has all been for a perfect world, all this time.'

'How do you know that's your destiny?' she yelled. 'How do you know it's who you are? This isn't you Dimentio!'

'Oh, be quiet!' he retorted. 'How could you know who I am? How could ANY of you know who I am?'

'Why don't you tell us Dimentio?' Blumiere suggested. 'Who exactly are you?'

'Bah. Such a tale would take forever to tell.' An idea crossed his face. 'However, that's not such a bad idea...' he smiled wickedly. 'And...why tell you, when I can _show_ you? So, it's time to be courteous. Relax, have a seat!' He waved his hands and black chairs materialized behind them, flinging everyone into one, the chains snapping on the captives as they were thrown into theirs as well. Shackles bound them to the chairs, restricting their movements. 'It's story time, kids! I hope you enjoy!' Another movement of his hands sent a black wave of thick smoke in their direction, passing over them and staying there. They coughed and shut their eyes, shaking, their minds being twisted. They stopped abruptly as they were hurtled into another world.

Dimentio's world.


	12. Chapter 12: Childhood

Chapter 12: Childhood

_Memories..._

'Hey! HEY!' a small boy yelled with a sharp voice. He had cold, ivory skin, with long hair that gently touched his frail, loose shoulders. His character was of a high contrast, as the said hair was split in the perfect middle, the left being of a pure snow white, while the right side was darker than darkness. Of course, his eyes presented the same characteristic; the left, matching his light hair, was of a bright lively golden yellow, while the other one was dull, lifeless, almost emotionless grey. It was such as if he represented life and death, light and darkness, in one being. For being born in the middle class, he was in all bright purple fabric, not as rich as the noble silk of true men, but not as neglected as the meaningless peasants of his land.

'Come on, little brother!' another boy, both taller and older than him, teased. He and his sibling, another boy of shorter height were using gusts of wind to keep a book in the air, with the youngest of the three children jumping _just_ about high enough, but not quite. Both brothers had long, black hair with dark eyes, lean and strong looking, powerful in magic, for their ages, and infinitely superior to Dimentio. Dimentio was like the black sheep of his family...in everything he could think of.

'Give, me, back, my, book!' he yelled, frustrated.

'Hurry up Dimentio, we don't have all day,' the other brother snickered. 'Show us some magic, and you get your book back.'

Dimentio gritted his teeth. He jumped into the air, and tried for some wind. A puff of smoke burst from his palm, knocking the book over. He reached up and tried to grab it, but a large gust of wind sent it back up into the air. 'Oh come on!' Dimentio exclaimed. 'There's your magic!'

'Not good enough kiddo,' his oldest brother taunted. 'Gotta be better than that poor excuse.'

The small kid's response was cold and unforgiving. 'Maybe if I had my book back, I could wipe the smug smiles off your mouths.

The older of his siblings snorted. 'Hah! It's always so textbook for you isn't it? Never just comes naturally, like with us.' Dimentio looked savage. 'Then again, I guess that's why dad loves us more—'

'SHUT UP!' Dimentio roared, and tried to hit them with fire, but the only thing that he could manage was a small burst of flame and a puff of smoke.

'HAHAHA!' both of his brothers laughed. 'That was pathetic!'

'Look, just give me it back now!'

The older one snickered. 'No way.'

'GIVE ME BACK MY BOOK!' he screamed with rage, jumping at him in an attempt to knock him down. His brother caught him by the front of his collar, brought his face to eye level and stared at him coldly.

'You know, little _brother_...' he whispered, giving the weak body a shake. 'I _really_ think you're biting off more than you can chew with us.' Dimentio gulped, sweating; he was such a weak boy, compared to his brothers, that they could walk all over him and he couldn't do anything. He was scared; he knew what came next. He was thrown to the ground, his brothers looking down on him with angry expressions. 'You should think before acting, you little runt.' said the older, with a sneer. He kicked him in the stomach, and the boy's breath was pumped out of his body. 'You might get hurt if you don't.'

Dimentio sucked in breath and smirked at them. He was weaker than both of them, yes, but he had something they didn't: witty comments. 'Right, Father absolutely loves you more,' he sneered. 'Trading you for a spellbook five years ago makes that _so_ obvious.'

Both of them yelled and attacked him with a flurry of punches and kicks, Dimentio tensing for every blow. Their father wasn't a nice man, and treated his youngest son like useless trash, but that didn't mean he was much kinder to his other ones. None of them ever felt any love from him, and his older two constantly took out their emotions on their small, weak sibling. They hated him, because of how inefficient he was at everything, and everything he said about their father. A fist collided with Dimentio's eye, and he yelled out in response to the pain it sent through him. His younger brother brought his foot back, and prepared to bring it forward.

'Damien! Drake!' someone shouted. Both boys immediately snapped to attention, and the book fell to the ground. Dimentio scooped it up. A man walked out of their house, which was very befitting of the Royal Magician's family. Moderately wealthy and comfortable. The man looked about middle aged at first glance, though his overall demeanour definitely made up for it. Tall, powerful, with a dark beard and hair and black eyes to match his sons' (two of them) and dressed in a long, purple robe, he was one of the most powerful people in the whole, grand kingdom. Dimentio's father strode out to meet them. His stride was just as you would expect; straight and almost military, brimming with pride. 'Uh...hello father,' the older son, Damien, said.

'Don't "hello father" me,' he growled. 'What the hell is going on out here?!'

'We were just helping Dimentio here hone his magical abilities,' Damien answered.

'No they weren't!' the poor victim objected. 'They were—'

'SILENCE!' his father roared, making all three of them jump. 'I don't care who did what. Damian, Drake, get in the house now. I need to have a...talk with you.' The two boys gulped, and ran inside.' He stood there and sighed to himself.

'Father, they were—'

'Quiet Dimentio,' he cut in. He was quiet for a moment. 'Why is it that you cannot stand up for yourself?'

He was slightly confused. 'I don't know what you mean.'

'LEARN SOME MAGIC!' his father bellowed. The boy almost fell over. 'Who's son are you?!'

'T-the Royal Magician's!' he sputtered.

'Yes you are, and yet you cannot conjure up even the tiniest hint of water, or fire! You're a disgrace!'

'You can't expect me to just DO things!' Dimentio retorted.

His father spun around and struck him in the cheek, knocking him to the ground. 'I can expect the other two to, and yet you can do nothing! Pathetic.' He walked towards the house. Dimentio stood there in shame; it was always the same: he was the black sheep, in appearance and abilities. His two brothers were much more talented, and therefore his father's favourites. He was always chewed out all the time, bullied on...maybe that's why he couldn't use magic. He just couldn't concentrate. He trudged to the house. He just wished he could meet someone he could connect with. That'd be absolutely great...

Dimentio was walking through the fields around the castle. It really was peaceful here, a nice place to unwind. God knew he needed it.

He stopped, listening. He heard something...someone singing. It was a girl...

_Gods above, please hear my call,  
I search for a, prince brave and tall._

Her voice was so sweet...like honey. He was captivated...it was so beautiful. He began to run in the direction of the voice, hearing the song being sang as he ran. He came across a small forest, the voice becoming ever clearer.

_I watch the starry skies above,  
Awaiting his soft voice..._

_In, the darkness, he'll be there,  
To hold me tight, and stroke, my hair._

_I look, to the heavens, where the angels soar,  
Awaiting my, true love..._

Dimentio ran to a clearing in the woods, surrounded by trees. They stood tall and magnificent, tiny droplets sparkling in the feint sunlight, which streaked through the clearings in the leaves, illuminating certain parts of the clearing, in contrast to the shadowy darkness it was covered in. Great, dirty grey rocks littered the ground, one or two bathed in glittering sunlight. He hid behind one of the rocks, peering into the direction of the voice. There was a girl, probably his own age, and if there was a word to describe her, it would be without any doubt, "perfect." She had a long silky hair of the sweet strawberries tint, curling all down past her small neck of a regal peach skin. A small tiara of the most precious silver was resting on her head, and she was wearing a soft plain lavender dress, that, in its simplicity, made the girl's beauty shine.

The captivated boy leaned forward straining to get a look at the girl, and fell right over, giving a loud yelp. The girl stopped her singing and turned and looked, her pink eye sparkling in the light.

'Oh!' she exclaimed, surprised. 'Who're you?' Dimentio got up hastily, embarrassed. 'I-I-I'm, uh...my name is Dimentio. I'm Royal Magician Ganter's third son.' He couldn't even talk right; he was too absorbed into this girl's beauty.

'Really? A magician? Wow.' She smiled. 'Nice to meet you Dimentio!' She held out a hand. He shook it, feeling some stability leave him as her warm hand held on to his own, cold one. 'My name's Princess Rosabella. I'm the king's daughter.'

Dimentio staggered as he suddenly remembered her from feasts and meetings. 'Puh-Princess!' he gasped. 'Uh-f-forgive my intrusion!'

'Oh, you aren't intruding at all.'

'R-really?!'

'Of course not! I could always use some company.' She smiled. 'And you don't have to call me "Princess," or "Rosabella." You can call me "Rose." My friends do.'

Dimentio gaped. 'I...I'm your friend?'

'Or course!' she said cheerfully. She paused. 'Well...only if you want to be. I'm not going to make you.'

'Of course I want to be!' Dimentio exclaimed.

Rosabella smiled. 'I want to be your friend too.'

'So...who're your other friends?'

'Uh...' She blushed. 'I...don't have any...'

'Oh...' Dimentio didn't expect that. 'Well...I guess I'm your first.' He smiled.

The princess smiled back. 'Oh!' she exclaimed. 'I need to go!' She walked up and gave him a quick hug. 'Nice meeting you! See you later!' She ran off.

He just stood there, warmth overtaking him. He had made a friend...and he couldn't have been more happier with who it was. Princess Rosabella...he sighed. He was really going to like their friendship...

Dimentio's next years had been the happiest he had ever been. He had spent so much time with Rosabella, each meeting kindling his love for her. As it turned out, the princess had been his motivation for magic. After meeting her, his skills in the art increased a ton. He could cast all four elemental magics with much more efficiency than he used to, almost up to par with his brothers, though not quite. His father became much more tolerant with him as he learned to take care of himself, though he still remained strict, and his favourites were still Damien and Drake. Dimentio didn't care though; he was with Rosabella, and that was all that mattered to him.

'Hahaha!' Rosabella laughed, chasing a flame that was zooming around on the ground. 'I just can't catch it. C'mon, make it a little slower.'

Dimentio smirked. 'Nah, I don't wanna.'

'Dimentio!'

'Oh all right.' He smiled. She did love chasing his flames. It was a nice pastime, and really got her active.

Time really flew, and the two of them were in their teens before they knew it. The princess' responsibilities multiplied, and she needed to get ready for leadership when her father passed away. A "Great queen," was what her father said she would be. She spent her days with the king's teachers, leaving her no room for herself. She became quite the rebel; she and Dimentio would sneak out at night, just having time to themselves. They'd explore the forest, look at all the animals, pick some flowers, play in the clear, sparkling lake, feeling the water rush by their feet, pick some strawberries near the castle. They would sit on a rock near the water, watching the moon, feeling the fishes swim around their toes. It was absolutely great. Dimentio was always thrilled with her company. He loved her...of that, he knew no doubt.

Dimentio and Rosabella were out near the woods, playing. Dimentio was now studying to be a magician, like his father was, and Rosabella was swamped with work. They needed this.

'Whew!' Rosabella breathed. 'I need this time off.'

'Ha!' Dimentio laughed. 'You couldn't have THAT much work. Only mounds of papers, books, and memorizing. You've got it easy!'

'Oh ha ha, Dimentio. Very funny.' She laughed.

Dimentio leaned over to one side and plucked a flower out of the ground. It was a sparkling, white rose, perfect in every little detail. He held it out for her. 'This is for you.' He smiled.

'Oh wow!' she exclaimed, taking it. 'It's amazing!'

'You certainly don't see flowers like that a lot.'

She laughed, sending Dimentio's heart soaring. 'Oh Dimentio, you're so charming.'

'Me?' he repeated, taken aback. 'Charming?'

'Yeah. Dimentio...the Charming Magician!' She grinned. 'That has such a great ring to it, don't you think?'

The "Charming Magician" chuckled. 'Yeah, I guess it does.'

They were interrupted as someone came running towards them. Dimentio immediately got up, tense, ready to attack the person if there was a risk of Rosabella being harmed.

'Puh-Princess Rosabella!' the person gasped.

'Hm? You're one of my father's messengers,' she said, surprised. 'What're you in a hurry for?'

'Y-your father...' he wheezed, exhausted. 'He...he sent me to find you...'

She became scared. 'Why? What's wrong?'

'You are to be accompanied back to the castle. Something awful has happened...'

_'"...and so, in the hopes of expanding our kingdom's borders, we hereby request your surrender. We will send an ambassador on our behalf. If you choose not to, then we will have no choice than to declare war on your kingdom._

_His Majesty, King Benz"_

Rosabella's father, the king, finished reading the letter that had arrived. He read it over a few more times, then sighed. 'This is grim...' he muttered. 'War...why does such a thing exist?'

'Daddy...' the princess whispered. 'What's going to happen?'

'We cannot surrender our kingdom. War is imminent.' Everyone was shaken. War was never a positive thing. 'When the ambassador comes, I will listen to his terms, then decline the offer. I will sign the parchment declaring war, stating that any deaths that occur aren't to be held against the other party. He will bring the one I will write to the king, which he will sign. After that...'

'War...' Dimentio breathed.

'Yes,' the king confirmed. 'War.' Everyone was silent. The king looked up directly at Dimentio, and he shrunk before his gaze. 'Dimentio...I know you have quite the friendship with my daughter, so this might be difficult for you: I forbid you to take my daughter out after dark.'

The young magicianwas shocked; he hadn't known the king knew about those ventures. Rosabella was surprised too. 'Y-your Majesty?! Is that really necessary?!'

'Yes. It'll be far too dangerous for her to be out, especially that late. I forbid you.'

'D-daddy!' Rosabella exclaimed. 'You can't do that!'

'I can, and I will.' My word is law, as the king and as your father.'

'No! I'm not going to stop going out!'

'Silence!' the king roared. 'As your father, and the king, I FORBID YOU.'

'Y-your Majesty...' Dimentio quivered.

'Dimentio, I order you to leave.'

He gulped and left, but not before hearing Rosabella get up and run to her room, crying uncontrollably.

Dimentio trudged along to his house, feeling horrible. Rosabella couldn't go out at night anymore, and she had all of the work she was stuck with...which meant there was no time at all for her to see him. He sighed. Everything had been so great, and now it had taken a turn for the worse because of this stupid war. He had only just heard the news, and already he felt a huge hole in his soul, almost as if there was no reason for him to continue living, as if the only purpose he had had was gone. He shook his head; what was he thinking? This was only temporary, after all, only until the war ended...but he had no idea how long that was going to take. Would it take years? That thought made his heart sink; _months_ away from her sounded unbearable. Would he have to live his entire adolescence away from her, until they both entered adulthood? No...he couldn't do that! It would be impossible for him to survive! And all because of this worthless war...

He threw back his head in sorrow. 'WHY?!' he screamed, heart aching. He kicked a large stone as hard as he could, helplessness overwhelming him. Conflict was so stupid! It caused only pain! Why were they forbidden? He was powerful enough to protect the princess! Or...was he? He knew his magic wasn't up to par with his family, or most magicians, but...how could he, without her? How could he continue on without her...she seemed too far away from him now.

Dimentio got to his house and put his hand on the door, about to turn the handle. He stopped; his father and brothers were in the middle of a conversation...he put his ear to the door, wondering what it could be about.

_'Everything is in order. The war has started...just as Benz said it would.'_

Dimentio's heart gave a leap; Benz! The opposing king! What was his father talking about?

_'Father...' _murmured Damien. _'Are you certain this is a good idea? It's...treason. It could cost us our lives.'_

_'Hah. We don't need to worry about that. We aren't part of the war, so if the king orders us to be executed, he is cursed.'_

_'That's true...' _Drake said.

_'All it'll take is one little assassination, one week from today. Then the war is over, and I become rich. Simple as that.'_

_'Hey...' _Damien realized. _'What about us?!'_

_'What about you?'_

_'We're in this too! What about our riches?'_

_'What riches? What right do you have to riches?'_

_'The fact that we're in this as well! Or have you forgotten your own flesh and blood, _Ganter_?_

Dimentio tripped and fell and the door swung open. Mid shout, Ganter stopped talking. All three of them turned and looked at them. His brothers held looks of shock on their faces, while Ganter looked mildly surprised. 'Dimentio,' he said. 'What happened?'

'I...I made to open the door and just...tripped.'

'"Tripped?"'

'Yes...tripped.' He inhaled. 'Um...I would like to go to my room.'

'Well then go. You have no part in this conversation anyway, and don't think I'll tell you what it was about.'

Dimentio nodded and got up. As he walked to his room, he knew he needed to tell Rosabella what he had heard.

'Rosabella!' he shouted, knocking on her door the next day. 'Rose! Open up!'

'Go away Dimentio, I'm very busy right now!' she shouted from the other side.

'Rose, this is incredibly important!' he yelled back.

There was a pause, and then the door opened to reveal a very annoyed-looking princess. '_What,_ Mr. Dimentio?!'

Dimentio gulped; she really was mad. Whenever she was particularly angry at someone, she'd put "Mr." in front of their name. 'Rose, please listen...' he swallowed. This wasn't good; it was like betraying his father. 'My father and brothers are going to try and kill your dad!'

Her eyes widened in shock. 'What?!'

'My father...Ganter...is going to kill him...'

Rose's eyes narrowed. 'What about you?'

'M-me?!' Dimentio was insulted. 'I would never betray your trust!'

She softened. 'I believe you. Come on, we need to go!'

'I...I can't.'

'What? Why?'

'I can't betray my father...'

Rosabella scowled. 'He's a murderer! If you're going to side with him, then I'm very disappointed in you Dimentio!'

Dimentio sighed. '...I'll go. Come on.' As he ran with her, he felt slightly controlled. The things love made you do...

'Daddy!' Rose yelled, wrenching the door open.

'Rosabella!' the king exclaimed. 'What's the matter?'

'The...Ganter...murder...' She was tongue-tied.

'What is she talking about?' the king asked, turning to Dimentio.

Dimentio gulped. 'My...' he paused. He felt like he was being yanked in two different directions. On one hand, he didn't want the king to die. That went without saying. On another...this was betraying his family. That was something he didn't want to do at all. _This has to be done..._ he thought. _This is for Rosabella's safety, as well as the king's._ He looked up at him. 'My...my father and brothers...are going to try and kill you...'

The king was shocked. 'Ganter? Kill me? Why?'

'I heard them talking last night. They said that all it would take was one assassination a week from then, and the war would be over and he'd be rich. They're working with Benz!'

The king growled. 'Treason! I'm going to march up there and—'

'No!' Rosabella shouted. Everyone looked at her. 'If you confront him, he'll just deny everything.'

'Well...Rose, you're the queen-in-training,' Dimentio said. 'What do we do?'

She smiled. 'I know exactly what to do.'

Ganter, Damien, and Drake skulked through the corridors of the castle. A week had passed, and it was time to end the war. The soon-to-be-former Royal Magician smirked as he thought of his riches; this was going to be easy.

'So...' Drake whispered. 'What do we do? Just stab him and get away?'

'You two stab him, and I'll make sure no one stops us on the way out. Simple.'

'Typical...' Damien muttered. 'We do the dirty work and he gets the reward...'

'What did you say?!' Ganter demanded.

'Nothing, nothing.'

They opened the door to the king's bed chambers. Damien and Drake both gripped the knife; it was heavy, but very deadly. 'Alright...' Ganter breathed. 'Easy now...' The two sons lifted the knife over the king's body. He was sleeping peacefully. Easier than expected. 'Now...kill him.'

_Damien and Drake_ brought the knife down into the king's chest. Ganter tensed in anticipation for the telltale sound that would indicate the king's death.

He waited. Anything, a cry of pain, a loss of breath, a shutter...anything to tell him the king was dead...but there was none.

'What...what is this devilry?!' Ganter roared.

'Proof of your treason Ganter.' The candles in the room were magically lit. The entire room was surrounded by guards. The king stood at the doorway, with his daughter in tow.

'Wh-what?!' he exclaimed, horrified. His two sons had been seized, looking defeated. 'If...if you're here, then...?' He looked at the king in the bed. The illusion disappeared. As he looked back, he was shocked to see his third son Dimentio, walk out from behind the king, looking absolutely terrified.

'Father...' he said. 'No...Ganter...it's...over.'

Ganter just stood there, gaping. His mouth changed into a deep scowl. 'You...' he fumed. 'You...' Ganter gave a loud cry and ran at Dimentio. 'YOU TRAITOROUS BRAT! I'LL KILL YOU!'

'Guards!' the king cried. 'Seize him!' All the guards, save the ones holding Damien and Drake, rushed at Ganter, knocking him to the floor. A few hauled him up and forced his hands behind his back. He growled with fury. He turned to Dimentio. 'Dimentio!' he yelled. 'Do it! Kill him now!'

That shocked everybody. Ganter tried to break free, but he couldn't. 'Dimentio...?' Rosabella said, carefully. 'What is he talking about?'

'I...' Dimentio shook his head. 'He's lying!'

'Dimentio, kill the king now! Do what I planned!' He grinned. 'Or...if not now, then later...when they aren't expecting it!'

The poor boy was in turmoil. He knew what he looked like now: a traitor, just like the rest of them. Ganter was taking his son down with him. 'Dimentio...' the king said. He shook his head sadly. 'Guards, arrest him.'

'What?!' Rosabella exclaimed. 'You can't be serious!'

'This is my life, and the life of the kingdom at stake!' the king roared. 'I cannot take any chances!'

'Dimentio would never do such a thing!'

'I cannot take chances. Take them to the dungeons.'

'No!' Rose wailed. 'Daddy, there has to be something!'

'I cannot have a traitor's son loose in the castle, particularly a magician!'

'Then...then he doesn't have to be one!'

'What?' the king said.

'What?' Dimentio said, shocked.

'WHAT?!' Ganter roared.

'Yes...he can stop being a magician.'

'Wh-what? That's crazy!' Dimentio said.

'No, listen to me! He...he can be a jester!'

'A...a WHAT?!' Ganter bellowed.

'A jester! He could be my personal jester! You could ban him from magic too, if that helps.'

'Your...' Dimentio felt his heart rise. 'Your jester...?'

'Yeah! You definitely fit the part. You're so funny! And...' She turned to her father. 'And jesters aren't dangerous. They just do jokes and pretty things, making people laugh, and Dimentio's really good at it. Besides...I need someone funny around as a stress reliever.'

The king thought. 'But...jesters aren't respected. They have nothing noble...you'd be a lowly servant, of no use, much. You'd be nothing but a joke, a clown...' Dimentio shrunk, uncomfortable with this description; it definitely wasn't what he wanted to be, or what he thought he would grow up to be. Rosabella looked at her father, pleading. '...what a perfect punishment for you.' Dimentio looked like it was too good to be true, and the princess squealed with delight. 'Yes, a fitting punishment for you...and for Ganter, from the looks of it.' The man was outraged, a deep scowl on his face, which was red with anger.

'A...a jester...a JESTER?!' He struggled against the guards' iron grip, to no avail. 'I've never been more HUMILIATED!'

'F-father...' Dimentio muttered.

'SHUT UP! YOU'RE NO SON OF MINE! YOU ARE DEAD TO ME! _DEAD_!'

'Take them to the dungeons.' The guards walked them off. Dimentio looked on, a pit forming in the pit of his stomach. Dead...to his father. He was no longer Ganter's son, in his eyes. A tear trickled down his cheek; this was anything but what he wanted to happen, even though he had grown up abused. 'My father...and brothers...' He looked at Rose. 'Will they be killed?'

'No, of course not. Do you know what happens to murderers in this land?'

'No,' Dimentio answered.

'Really? Wow. Well, you see, it was written, long ago, that if anyone spills blood on this land, or kills a person, they will be cursed. The curse differs from person to person, though it's usually death. The only way to cure the curse is to have the father of the cursed son or the mother of the cursed daughter make a small blood sacrifice to the child. The cursed individual must cut open his or her own flesh and have the blood fall into him or her. This combination of sacrifices removes it. The only problem is that the parents normally don't want to have anything to do with their child after they've done something to get themselves cursed, and if you don't have a parent of your gender, you're out of luck. No doubt Ganter made his sons do the killing so that he wouldn't suffer the curse. Or, so he thought.'

'Wait...what about the war?'

'Doesn't count,' she answered sadly. 'You remember that paper dad signed? That's basically saying that they have permission to kill. It's the rules of war, and the only exception to the curse, aside from self-defence and assisted suicide. No, they'll be detained for the rest of their lives, until they die of old age, disease, or suicide.'

'Oh...' Dimentio said. 'I'm...gonna go find a room. Because...I'm living on my own now...right?'

'Yeah...'

Dimentio walked off. Rosabella turned to her father. 'Daddy...I feel awful...this is so...horrible...'

Her father's face turned sympathetic. 'I can imagine...' He put a hand on her shoulder. 'How about you take a week off of your studies? You've been overworked, and now this...'

She looked up in surprise. 'Really?!' He nodded. 'Oh daddy, thank you!' She hugged him and ran off. The king smiled. Sometimes it felt really good being a father.


	13. Chapter 13: Budding Affections

Chapter 13: Budding Affections

_Memories..._

A week had passed, and Dimentio had sorted things out. He had a room, furniture, accessories, and even a servant, thanks to the fact that he was the Princess' jester. Her name was Annabelle. He laid down on his bed; who knew having your own home was so hard? He sighed.

Someone knocked on the door. 'Come in,' Dimentio said weakly.

The door opened. 'Hi there Mr. Funny Jester Man!' Rosabella opened the door.

'Rose!' He shot up. 'I haven't seen you all week! What have you been doing?'

'Well...' she said with a smile, her hands behind her back. 'I was busy making you...this!' She revealed a jester's costume. The first bit was just a black shirt and black pants, with black, curl-toed, jester-esque shoes and black gloves. The second part was much more jester-like. It was a poncho, purple and yellow in pattern, that covered his entire upper body, including his arms, though his hands would be visible. There was a purple and yellow jester hat to match.

'Wow!' Dimentio exclaimed. 'That's incredible! You made this?'

'Yep! Sewed it together myself.' The jester took is as she held it out to him. 'Well?' she asked. 'Are you gonna put it on?'

'Um...but you're here.'

'There's other rooms.'

Dimentio sighed and went into another room, closing the door. After he put it on, he walked out. 'This is great!' he said. 'I definitely look the part.'

'I think you'll make an excellent jester. Oh!' she remembered. 'I got you something else, hang on...' She ran out the door. When she came back, she had something else. It was a mask, split right down the middle, black on the left side, white on the right. Two slightly arched eyeholes were in the upper part, and another slightly arched mouth hole was near the bottom, flipped over vertically in comparison to the other two. 'This'll add to the mystery.'

'Oh wow,' Dimentio said. 'Did you make that too?'

'I got a few people to help me out.' She handed it to him, and he took it and put it on. He smiled from behind the mask and bowed.

'Your new jester, at your service Princess,' he said respectfully, though with a hint of humour in it.

Things we a bit better after that. With his family imprisoned, Dimentio had much more time to himself, and a lot more freedom, even if he was the princess' jester. He also spent a lot more time with Rosabella, which made him happy. She often called for him at night, when she wasn't busy, but sometimes it would be during the day while she worked, for a breather or even just to talk to her. However, despite all of this, Dimentio still didn't see her as often as he would have liked, and often spent his days in the library, or practicing magic in secret. Nothing too major. Just small things, like lighting candles with magic. Anything to keep himself prepared for anything that might happen.

Dimentio, on one of these days, went into the library to find himself a book to read. Skimming the bookshelves, he tried to find something interesting. He sighed when he went up and down the rows a few times, finding nothing. He moved down a few, skimming through them. Nothing. After a bit more searching, he stumbled upon a book that he hadn't seen before. It was a dark book, with a blue pearl in the centre, and practically _oozed_ something...evil. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he felt...something. He reached out and touched it, and an electric shock travelled down his arm, making him jerk away. He tried a few more times, and the shocking died down. He picked it up, weighing it. It was big. He opened it...it was completely empty. He frowned; this was odd.

He went over to the librarian, an old, kind woman. 'Hey...' he asked. 'What's this book called?'

'Hm?' She looked at it. After a moment, a very confused look was on her face. 'I...I don't know, I've never seen that here before.'

'Huh? That's weird.'

The librarian held out her hands. 'May I have a look?'

'Sure. But...be careful, it—'

She took it. Nothing happened. She looked it up and down. 'No, I'm afraid I've never seen this book here in all my long life.'

Dimentio was a little surprised. 'Don't you...feel anything?' he asked, taking the book back.

She gave him a questioning, almost distrusting look. 'No...'

'Oh...' When her eyes narrowed a bit, Dimentio decided he might want to leave soon. 'So, would you mind if I took this?' he asked hastily.

'Not at all. It's not even the library's property, I believe. Do what you will with it.'

Dimentio gave her his thanks and left for his room.

He closed his door and lit a candle, putting the dark book on his desk. He just sat there and stared at it for a moment. There was something about it, but what? He put a hand on it and closed his eyes. He felt some kind of magic travel through him slowly. He drew his hand away quickly.

'I can't let this thing continue...' he muttered to himself. 'This is...dark magic.' He had heard tales of people who meddled with such things, and they never ended well. He got up...then sat back down. He didn't know why, but he felt like it was calling to him. He couldn't ignore it if he tried. He opened it to the first page, running his fingers down it.

_Destiny..._

He jumped. Someone had whispered something. Looking around, there was no one. He turned back to the book. Looking at it, he got a strange sensation. He picked up a quill and dipped it in ink. Moving his hand over the page, he wrote a single sentence:

_The owner of this book is destined for misfortune_

Dimentio looked at the sentence, puzzled. Why had he written that? He didn't mean to. It was like reflex. The ink seemed to really seep down into the page, glowing, pulsing. Dimentio frowned. This was too weird. He went down a bit, and began to write more. As he wrote, a vision passed through his mind...and it wasn't a good one. He jumped, shaken by the image. He shook his head; he had to put this away. He...he shuttered. No, he didn't have to stop. Why? He was just writing. He wrote more passages in his neat, curled handwriting, seeing more visions pass through his mind. Even though they scared him, something at the back of his mind was telling him to keep going. Not only that...he was also interested in what the book would tell him.

The next bit of Dimentio's life passed as such. He'd serve Rosabella, make her laugh, tell her jokes, do tricks. However, the rest of it was spent writing in that dark book. At first, he had left it. After a while, he went back to it. From that point on, he went back to it sooner and sooner, until he wrote in it every day, feeling the darkness of it seep into him, but he didn't care. What he was writing scared him; it predicted the end of the worlds. Not just the world. The _worlds_. Dimentio was puzzled at first. He didn't know there were other worlds aside from his. The book predicted that many kingdoms would get word of an object telling the future, and they would fight over it, never finding happiness. The kingdoms would fall to ruin, death following the object. It stated that a thing called the "Chaos Heart" would be born from the marriage of a pure princess and a monster king, and that it would call forth the "Void," which would swallow all worlds, and send them into oblivion. It also spoke of four Heroes. A man in red, the pure princess, the monster king, and a man in green, though it gave no names and didn't describe them beyond that. They would try to stop the Void. The man in green was interesting to Dimentio. He was like a neutral force. It said he was a hero, but...a particular sentence that Dimentio had, uncontrollably, written said otherwise.

_"__Though the __man in red__ shall wield formidable powers, one shall stand against him. The __man in green__ shall use the __Chaos Heart__'s power to bring darkness to all."_

If the man in green was a hero, then why would he use the Chaos Heart's power and destroy everything? It didn't make sense. There was another thing as well, at some point in the book. It spoke of a specific person: a jester, dressed in purple and yellow, a black and white mask hiding his face. It...was him. Why was he in the book? He remembered the "whisper" he had heard when he touched it. "Destiny," it had said. Was it his destiny to destroy all worlds? Was he the one who did all of this? He shuttered at the thought.

As the days passed, and he continued to write, feeling the darkness seep into him, he noticed something. His skin began to change, take on a dark blue tint, because of the book's influence. He thought it was nothing at first, and he began to wear his mask much more often. When people saw him, they thought he had some kind of disease or something. He told them otherwise. As the days turned into weeks, his skin began to darken and darken, until it had changed from his deathly pale colour to very dark blue. The book almost introduced him to some new forms of magic.

One day, he was sitting in his room on his floor, looking at the dark book, which rested in front of him, and thinking about what was written inside of it. It scared him, to think that the worlds could end...and that he might be the cause. He sighed and looked into his mirror; his face was now a dark blue shade, and it had stopped changing. That was now his new skin colour...it was odd, but he liked it for some reason. It was...better, in his opinion, than the rest. However, he had the suspicion that others might not like it, so he wore his mask 24/7 now. Not unusual for a jester around his superiors, so no one ever asked him why he never took it off.

He stared at the floor, thinking. He had practiced magic for the longest time, and still never got better, or much better at least. He knew the theory; that much was simple. It was the "Aether Theory." Also called the "Fifth Element Theory" or the "Magic Core Theory," it stated that there was a certain, unexplainable something inside of every being. This Magic Core was at the centre of one's soul, and could be harnessed upon to cast magic. Most, in reality, couldn't do it very well. They could just a little, but not very much at all. Others could draw upon copious amounts of their Core, and use it to cast fire, water, air, or earth. The four elements were connected to the Core, so when you drew upon your Core, you could follow the connection of one of the elements and release it from your Core. That was how magic worked. Those who were talented or had a larger Core could draw upon it well. Dimentio's had been much smaller than those of his brother's and father, and things were made worse by the fact that he was so stressed about his family abusing him. Something interesting though, was that Aether itself could be drawn upon. Your core was made up of the Aether Element, and it could be drawn upon and mixed with certain other elements to do other things. For example, using fire, water, and air, Dimentio could create a thin layer of mist around an area, then use the Aether to create an illusion in the mist, like the illusion of the king the other day. With Aether, it took less energy to cast it, and more knowledge of the elements that went into it, so more people could use it, if they knew of it. Dimentio's brothers didn't, which kind of gave him a small advantage to make up for his deficiency in magic. He knew his father did, which was one of the things that had earned him the title of most powerful magician in the kingdom. Yes, Dimentio knew all of the theory behind magic, but he just wasn't good enough.

He stared at it more. He wasn't good enough at magic, and it was nagging at him. He had always felt inferior, and he still did. There had to be a way around the general theory. That was why he had, for about a week now, been formulating a theory based on the prospect of other dimensions. All it would take was some Aether... He relaxed, willing himself to concentrate on his surroundings, to become attuned to the other dimensions. He spread his hands out and tensed. He called upon his Core, drawing a square around him...and spun around.

He almost had a heart attack. Looking around him, he was in the same place he had been in, but it was...different, at the same time. He didn't even know how to describe it.

He looked around the castle. He noticed something very interesting: he could see other people...shadows, or outlines of them, like ghosts. But they couldn't see him. It was odd. He knew he was in another dimension...this was weird. He went back to his room and tried it again, flipping back into the regular dimension without a trouble. He grinned; this could be the way around the normal principles of magic! And it had been easy! One little strand of Aether, and the dimensions were his to command! And...and he was the only one who knew how to do it! Heck, he was probably the one to discover it. It was really interesting; this magic was in a class its own. It wasn't connected to Aether, like the elements, so you didn't use as much energy. Plus, it was probably more powerful, considering it manipulated the fabrics of the dimension itself to be used. Technically, it wasn't even magic. It was science. All you had to do was know what to do to the dimensions, the formulas and such, and a little bit of Aether did the job. Little to no effort on the magician's part. Dimentio smiled; he had only just discovered this and he was already analyzing it much further than necessary. That was good; it meant he'd be exceptional at it.

He looked at his mask, which also lay on the floor, next to the book. He needed to make it cover his whole face, with no eye or mouth holes for people to peek into. He had already tried altering it with the limited amount of magic he possessed. Nothing. He decided to try his new form of magic. After a few attempts and messing around with the magic, nothing happened still. He frowned. Perhaps this just wasn't enough for magic to do.

He jumped. Something seemed to hiss at him. He looked around. Nothing. He returned to thinking. He jumped again, hearing the same noise. He looked at the book; that had to have been it. It seemed to pulse with a dark energy. He crawled towards it, cautiously, still not knowing what the thing could be capable of. He touched the spine, feeling a jolt. He opened it up to around the middle, and pressed his hand on it. Tendrils of darkness seemed to leak from the pages.

'What is that...?' he muttered. He ran his index finger along it, and the dark substance stuck to his finger, sinking into it. The tip of his finger buzzed with energy. 'Is this...dark magic?' He turned to his mask, and called upon not his Core, but upon the dark energy he had just absorbed. He willed it to change his mask to the way he wanted it, and the darkness sank into the mask, turning it completely black. After a moment, the blackness faded away, and his mask was only moderately changed. The eyeholes were filled in; the one on the black side was yellow, and the one on the white side was black. They matched his eyes somewhat. The mouth hole was filled in as well, by a kind of red-ish shade. The mask's expression was completely neutral.

Dimentio smiled. 'Well...that solves my problem.' He put the mask on experimentally. Immediately, a dark haze passed before his eyes, obscuring his vision like a black cloud. He panicked for a moment, grabbing at the mask. He haze gradually subsided, and in his mirror he saw his masked face undergo many different facial expressions in a few seconds. It stopped completely, looking completely neutral, and then it lapsed into a frightful yet wondrous expression, the one he was wearing behind it.

'That was...' he breathed, the red-ish mouth on his mask moving to match his own. He blinked, and the black and yellow eyes followed exactly as he did. '...incredible!' he finished. He was amazed; elemental magic, dimensional magic and...dark magic. He frowned as he thought of the third one. He knew...he _knew_ he shouldn't meddle with it, but...looking in the mirror, thinking of the dark blue face that lay beyond the mask...he knew he'd meddled in it a lot already.

One year...one, single year from when the king received that dreadful letter from Benz, the war was over.

_'"...and so I would like to formally invite you and your families, friends, and servants to a great feast in my hall, in celebration of our peace and prosperity, now, and for years to come._

_King Lucius"'_

The king finished reading his letter. 'Does that sound good to you?' he asked.

'Definitely!' Rosabella told him. 'That sounds really professional.'

Dimentio nodded. 'It sounds great. I still can't believe the war is over, and so soon...'

'Thank you Rosabella, Dimentio,' he said. He gave the latter a look, as he always did as he regarded his masked face. At first they both wanted to know how he'd altered it and why, and he had just said that magic had no boundaries, and that something had happened to his face that he would like to keep hidden, as it might make people around him ridicule or shun him. Both were true, so he wasn't lying, really.

'Are you going to send it?' Rosabella asked.

'Nah, he's going to eat it. Of course he will!' Dimentio joked. Rosabella laughed.

'Yes, I will send it immediately.'

The next day, he got a response:

_"Dear King Lucius,_

_I am delighted to hear that bygones are bygones after this dreadful war. The fact that neither of our kingdoms have expanded isn't a good outcome, but the peace that has sprung from it is even better. I will happily attend your feast and bring my two sons, my servants, and my closest friends. I hope you will not mind our being there, and I hope that only more good will come of it._

_Your neighbour and ally, King Benz"_

After that, the feast was to be held in a week, to prepare. A week passed, and Dimentio and Rosabella were standing outside the doors to the dining hall. Rosabella was in a brilliant lavender dress, which sparkled in the candle light and a silver tiara, which made Dimentio's heart jumpy to look at. She was shaking with nervousness.

'I...I...' she stuttered. 'I can't do it!'

'What?' Dimentio said. 'You can't possibly say that!'

'I...I'm too nervous...I can't...'

'Rose, this is your first big night.' He grabbed her shoulders and looked into her bright, pink eyes. 'You can do this. Think of how great you'll look to everyone around you.'

She looked down. 'I don't look that great...' she muttered.

'Are you joking?' her loyal servant exclaimed. 'You look absolutely beautiful!'

She looked into his eyes, though the effect was ruined by his mask. 'You think so...?'

'Yes. And I say that not as your servant, but your best friend.'

She smiled. 'Thanks Dimentio, you're a great friend. I feel better already.'

Dimentio smiled. 'Now go out there and knock them dead.' He gave a chuckle and added, 'My Lady.'

He opened the doors for her and let her through, bowing as he did so. She smiled and walked through into the hall. It was packed, and people were everywhere. The people who were high in status were seated at the large, rectangular tables in the hall, dressed in regal, expensive clothes, eating their fill and talking amongst themselves, eager to hear what those from the other kingdom had to say. Their servants waited at their shoulders, talking to each other as well, though keeping an ear out for their masters' commands. More servants, dressed in white, served the food, luscious, delicious looking dishes, meats, vegetables and fruits, refreshing drinks and wines, and other things. It was all excellent. The two kings sat in thrones at the end of the hall (Benz had the more extravagant one), talking to each other. Two boys were next to Benz, most likely his sons. One looked older, and had short, brown hair, while the younger had long, blonde hair, and they both wore small, golden crowns. Both were very handsome, the younger one especially. Benz gave them a quick word and they left for the tables to go and socialize.

'Well, seems like Benz has two sons of his own,' Dimentio noted. He glared silently at him from across the hall; Seemed like Rosabella's father had forgiven Benz's attempt on his life. Dimentio wouldn't forgive him that easily though, getting his family, however nasty, thrown into prison, and nearly himself too.

'Should we go see my father?' Rosabella asked.

'If you wish it, my Lady.'

'Stop calling me that.'

Dimentio smiled. 'We're in the middle of what's basically a party Rose. As the princess, you want to look professional and important, so I'll be calling you that for today. When you talk to people, I'll address you as Lady. Like it or not.'

She scowled. 'Fine, if you insist.' She gave a small smile. 'Well...let's go.'

She strode across the hallway through the crowds with an air of elegance and dignity that he had never seen from her before; it made his heart beat all the more faster.

'Father!' she said, reaching him.

'Ah! There you are. Introduce yourself to your guest of honour.' He smiled.

'Hello, your Majesty,' she said, bowing.

'Oh please,' he grinned. 'Call me Benz.'

She smiled. 'Hello Benz. My name is Princess Rosabella. Pleased to meet you.'

'The pleasure is all mine, Rosabella.' He regarded Dimentio. 'And who are you?'

'This is my personal jester and servant. His name is Dimentio.'

The jester bowed. 'Your Majesty, it is an honour.'

Benz smiled. 'You have quite the interesting mask. Might I inquire where you found it?'

'I made it,' Rosabella cut in. 'And he got someone to alter it with magic, for better effect.'

'Well it certainly works,' Lucius muttered. He looked at his daughter. 'Well, I believe you should go and socialize, make an impression.'

She nodded. As she made to leave, Benz stopped her. 'Oh, princess?' he asked.

She turned. 'Yes?'

'Have you met my two sons? Alik and Allen?'

'No, I'm afraid not.'

'Ah. Well, keep an eye out for them.'

She smiled. 'I'll do just that.' She turned back and walked away, Dimentio following in her stead.

As she was walking, someone was moving through the crowds. She didn't see him, and he didn't see her, so as he came through, the two crashed into each other, falling to the ground.

'My Lady!' Dimentio said. 'Are you alright?'

'Ugh...' she groaned. 'Ouch...'

The boy, who was around their ages, got up. 'Oh!' he said. 'Terribly sorry! I mustn't have been watching where I was going!' He offered a hand. 'Might I help you up?'

She took his hand. 'Thanks, I—'

She stopped as she looked at him. He was taller than her, dressed in regal, expensive looking clothes, even more so than most people. His eyes were a sparkling blue and long blonde hair went down his head. He grabbed her hand and helped her to her feet. 'Once again, terribly sorry,' he apologized. She said nothing, just looked at him. 'Ah!' he said, smiling a perfect smile. 'What a fair young maiden.' She blushed. 'May I have your name?'

'P-Princess Rosabella...' she answered shakily.

'"Rosabella..."' he repeated, smiling. 'What a beautiful name.'

'Th-thank you.'

'No troubles. My name is Prince Allen. I am the younger of my father's sons. My brother is Prince Alik, over there with the brown hair.' He pointed. The other prince was seated at a table, eating his dinner, keeping much to himself, only talking when it was necessary. 'He's the quiet type, and doesn't bother people much, though I'm sure he won't be troubled if you try to talk to him.'

Rosabella nodded. 'I'll...I'll remember that.'

Allen smiled. 'Well, I best be off.' He took her hand and kissed it lightly. 'Please to make you acquaintance, fair Rosabella.' He walked off, taking a moment to glance back at the awestruck girl. He smiled, and continued walking.

She just stood there, looking at him as he left. 'My Lady?' Dimentio asked. He got no answer. 'Rose? What's wrong?'

She shook her head. 'Nothing's wrong, I'm fine.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes, I'm sure. Let's go eat.'

Dimentio wasn't assured, but he didn't argue. 'Yes, my Lady.' They walked off.

Rosabella sat down, Dimentio standing at her shoulder. Rosabella was scanning the crowds, looking for Allen. She found him. He was talking to a squire, though also taking time to scan the crowd. He found her looking at her. He smiled and dismissed the squire, eating and just looking in her direction.

Throughout the entire meal, the princess was silent and pale, longing to see the prince again, to hear his voice. She barely even ate anything, just shaking with longing.

'My Lady?' Dimentio asked. No answer. 'Rose? What's wrong?'

'Nothing Dimentio!' she answered rudely.

'Rose?' He was taken aback. She never spoke to him like that. He was so confused.

Dimentio just couldn't see the answer, though it was right under his nose. Rosabella was in love with the prince...and he returned her feelings. Everyone could see it, throughout the dinner. Everybody...except for Dimentio, who was too wrapped up in his own love and friendship of Rosabella that he didn't even consider the fact that she had found someone. Everyone was thrilled of this; a romance between the two kingdoms would further bond them. The two kings smiled, amazed by this sudden spark of feelings, and laughed with delight as their children were in their own little world, even though they weren't even near each other.

'Ah, Lucius, look at our two children!' he exclaimed. 'Love at first sight...'

'Yes,' Lucius replied, smiling. 'It's quite a sight.' His heart filled with joy at his daughter's first encounter with love. 'It really is a great thing, to be a parent.' He took a small drink of wine.

'At times like this, yes, definitely,' Benz agreed. He chuckled. 'Ah, this is going to last for a very long time. I can already see the wedding.'

Lucius choked on his drink, spitting it out, spraying everywhere. 'Wuh-_wedding_?' he exclaimed.

'Why yes! It doesn't seem unreasonable.'

'Well...it isn't, I suppose,' Lucius replied, wiping his drink off his shirt. 'But...they're so young! Only fifteen years of age!'

'Yes? I see no problem.'

'Perhaps we should wait, and see if this is truly love, and not just something small, before we start discussing..._marriage._' He shook. Perhaps he was too overprotective of his daughter.


	14. Chapter 14: The Charming Magician

Chapter 14: The Charming Magician

_Memories..._

The next day, when the feast was over and the hall cleaned up, with the guests back in their own kingdom, Dimentio was practicing magic again. He focussed his energy, trying a new formula, and used his magic to compress dimensional fabrics into a tiny block, which was yellow in colour. He grinned through the effort; this was interesting. The block gave a spark, and bursts of purple and yellow energies emitted from it.

Dimentio was amazed. 'This could be more powerful than—'

_BOOM!_ The block exploded in his hands, throwing him across the floor.

'Ow...' he groaned. 'Yes...definitely more powerful than the elements.' He got up and walked back over. 'And that was just a taster!' He laughed with excitement; all throughout his life, he had been mocked by his family about being weak and inefficient with magic, and here he was practicing the basics of another type of magic that could wipe the floor with the elements at its simplest form! And he was basically the creator of it, unless there were others in other dimensions who used it too. Dimentio felt weird, thinking of other dimensions as if it was common fact. If he were to tell other people that there were other worlds besides this, they'd think he was crazy. And then, of course, there was dark magic, which came entirely from another source, and required no effort at all...Dimentio shuttered. Aside from altering his mask, he hadn't used dark magic since, and he hoped that he wouldn't need to. It was something you didn't meddle with.

The door opened and Rosabella walked in. 'Dimentio, please, come here,' she said. She seemed close to tears.

'Hm? What's wrong?'

'Just come with me!' she ordered.

Dimentio turned and warped right in front of her. 'What's wrong?'

Rosabella stood gaping at him. 'Wh-what was that?'

'What was what?' He suddenly realized what he had done. He had discovered quite a while ago that he could manipulate the dimensions to teleport him to places. Also, he learned that he could teleport and then split himself into multiple clones, illusions of himself. Considering that the illusions weren't real, but could still generate attacks, it was much more efficient than the elemental method, and was easier to use. 'Uh...' This wasn't good.

'You...what kind of magic is that?'

'That's dimensional magic,' he answered simply.

She was baffled. 'Huh?'

'It's confusing to think about,' Dimentio said.

'My father told you that you were banned from magic,' she reminded him.

Dimentio smiled. 'This isn't magic Rose, this is science. Or, you could say, my own little brand of magic. When I made that promise, I was talking about _magic_. The elements.'

Rose shook her head. 'I'm disappointed in you.'

'Um...' Dimentio was uncomfortable. 'What did you want me for?'

'I was stressed and sad, and needed someone to talk to.' She looked up. 'But you know, I think you can help me with something far better.'

Rose and Dimentio warped to a hidden spot in Benz's kingdom, Rosabella and Dimentio slightly disoriented from the travel.

Rosabella looked around in wonder. 'We're here...and in only a few seconds...'

'It works well,' Dimentio stated. 'Now, why did you want to—'

'OH THANK YOU DIMENTIO!' she squealed. She gave him a quick hug and then ran off.

Dimentio was dazed for a moment, then shook himself back to alertness. 'Rose?' he called. She wasn't there. 'Rose?' He was panicking; he didn't know where she was or where she was going. He ran off in search of her, sighing. This was going to be a long night.

Dimentio trudged down the streets, panting. The whole night had passed, and he hadn't seen hide nor hair of Rosabella. He went down on his knees, exhausted. This was hopeless.

'Dimentio!' Rosabella ran over and jumped on him, knocking him over. She was smiling brightly and laughing with glee.

He was shocked; the princess had never been this happy before. 'Rose!' he said. 'About time you showed up!' She just laughed. Dimentio was about to ask her where she had been, but he stopped. She looked so happy...why bother her? He hadn't seen her like this in a long time. 'Um...do you want to go home?' he asked her.

'Yes please!' she said. Dimentio smiled; she was acting like a little girl. He put a hand on her shoulder and warped them both back.

As the days passed, Rosabella often spoke of Allen, the prince. He was so great, and handsome, and nice, she would say. Dimentio didn't overly like hearing this, and was always in an angry mood whenever she was ranting. He tried to ignore it, but it didn't really work well. It still never occurred to him that she was in love with the prince, that he had lost Rosabella to Allen. After two weeks, she asked him to teleport him to the other kingdom once more. The second verse was the same as the first verse; she ran off immediately, then came back when the first of the sun's rays shone across the horizon. Then he warped them back to her room. After that, she asked again, one week later, and then three days later. Soon, she was away at the other kingdom every single night, the exact same routine happening. It soon became a normal thing for Dimentio. He would teleport her there, she would run off, he would teleport to his room, sleep, and then pick her up at dawn. And he still didn't know what she was doing. He asked her a few times, and he never got the answer he wanted.

'Rosabella...' he asked one day, using her full name. He rarely did that, and that was his "Mr. Dimentio."

'Yes Dimentio?' she asked.

'What are you doing when you go to the kingdom?'

She seemed surprised at this. 'Uh...why do you want to know?'

'I'm curious.'

'I...uh...I go and see my girl friends in the other kingdom.'

'Oh.' Dimentio wasn't pleased; she had always been a horrible liar, and he always knew when she wasn't telling the truth to him. This was one of those times. He decided to try and test this. 'Might I join you and your...friends?'

'Are you kidding?' she exclaimed. 'You NEVER bring a boy to hang out with a bunch of girls!'

'Why not?'

'Because girls talk about things that boys shouldn't hear, and it'd get really awkward if you were there.'

Dimentio frowned inwardly; she wasn't lying about that fact, though he knew she wasn't being truthful about what she was doing. He decided not push the matter. No use wasting energy. However...another thought pierced his mind.

'Rosabella...' he said. 'Are you ashamed of me?'

She was even more surprised. 'What? No, of course not! Why do you ask?'

'Look at me Rose. I'm a jester. A clown. A servant. I'm nothing...my status is about as low as you can go. And you're a princess. You're _royalty_!'

'Dimentio, I would never stop being your best friend because you're a clown.' She was reassuring. 'I hope you know that.'

Dimentio did know that, but he still didn't get his answer. It didn't matter how many times he asked, he just got the same lie. He didn't push, as she was always so happy doing it. It was just better not to ask.

'I don't understand!' he yelled.

'No need to shout...' his servant, Annabelle said. She brushed off some dust on her worn, servants clothes.

'Sorry,' he apologized. 'I'm just confused.'

'About what?' she asked, cleaning the room. Her black hair hung down to her shoulders, and she shook her head to get the dust out of it; those small, out of reach places got _really_ dirty.

'Where does the princess go every night? I don't get it...'

'Isn't it obvious? She's in love.'

'Exactly!' Dimentio exclaimed. 'She loves this kingdom, it's where she grew up! Why is she leaving it?'

Annabelle snorted. 'Are you stupid or something?' she insulted with a cheek that she wouldn't give any other person. The fact that Dimentio only had a servant because he was friends with the princess didn't give him much authority over her.

'Bah! What do you know? You're just a servant.'

She shrugged, packing up her stuff and exiting. 'You aren't much more yourself, clown.'

Yes, Dimentio never got his answer. Ever. A year had passed, the exact same thing happening every night. He was so sad now; he was never with her. During the day, she was studying, and during the night, she was out in the kingdom. He had been released from her services, as the king thought he wasn't really needed for her, and he was just the court jester, pleasing the crowds and such. He never saw her. He felt a larger hole in his heart than when he had heard about the war, two years ago. Everything seemed so dull and depressing without her, it was difficult to dig up enough pep to do his job, be a jester. It all seemed so fake now, because he was never truly happy. So many parts of him wanted to interrogate the princess until she told him what he wanted to know, but she was so happy he never even bothered. He knew next time would be the same. Or...would it?

'Dimentio!' she called, coming into his room, in a soft lavender dress, wearing a broad smile. 'Can you take me to the other kingdom again?'

Dimentio looked at her behind his mask. He had been about to say yes, but...he was sick and tired of being left in the shadows all the time. He needed to know where she went all the time. His expression went sombre, and he stared at her seriously. 'No Rosabella. I cannot take you to the kingdom tonight.' His voice was low, which surprised her. He rarely ever spoke to anyone like that.

'What?' she exclaimed. 'Why not?'

'I'm not taking you out unless you tell me the truth.'

She shifted. 'W-what truth? What do you mean?'

'You know what I'm talking about. I know you do.' When she said nothing, he continued. 'Tell me...what do you do at the kingdom every night?'

She frowned. 'Dimentio, I've already told you, time and time again! I'm seeing my friends.'

'Listen, I never really pushed because you always seemed so happy, but I can tell that you're lying—'

'Oh, so now I'm a liar, is that it?' She was becoming agitated; she wanted desperately to see her prince, and Dimentio wasn't letting her. He was her friend, but she couldn't see past her love. She wasn't happy at all.

'I know you don't have any friends in the kingdom.'

'Oh yeah?' she snorted. 'How do you know, Mr. Dimentio?' He registered the "Mr." but that didn't stop him. He wasn't going to give up now. He was going to know the truth tonight.

He smirked. 'I'm the only friend you've ever had. Ever. You don't like the ladies in the castle. You didn't socialize at the feast a year ago. You were never in town before then. Where else could you have found friends from the other kingdom?'

'I...uh...' She hesitated. She couldn't think up something that fast.

'See?' Dimentio said. His voice had gotten lower as Rosabella's lie was being uncovered. Never before had he felt so insulted. It was like she couldn't trust him! 'Now, I want you to tell me: what are you doing in that kingdom?'

'I...'

'Princess...if you don't tell me, I swear I'll—'

'I'm seeing Allen!' she shouted.

Dimentio was knocked off guard; he hadn't been expecting that answer at all. 'What?'

'I'm seeing Prince Allen.'

'...why are you seeing _him_?'

'Isn't it obvious?' At the sight of Dimentio's blank look, she almost laughed. 'Oh. You don't know...'

'Don't know what?'

'I'm in love with him you blind doofus!' she screamed. 'Ever since I first saw him at the feast, I've been in love with him! And he's been in love with me!' She was in hysterics now, furious at Dimentio's nerve. All she wanted was her love. Dimentio didn't see that, however. Dimentio saw only anger, and betrayal. Horrible, backstabbing betrayal...

'But...Rose, you don't understand...' He choked on his words. 'I...'

'Don't even try to waste my time Dimentio! I already know that you love me!'

Dimentio's balance weakened. 'You...you knew?'

'Hah! Of course, it's so obvious! _No one's_ that blind!' She paused. 'Oh wait, you are.'

'B-but...then...' He was at an utter loss for words.

Rosabella, not caring what her friend thought, just shouted whatever came to her mind. 'Hah! You think that a princess would love something as low as yourself? A jester? A clown? A _servant_? You're just so pathetic, I can't even believe you thought such a thing!

Dimentio's mind turned upside down as everything he knew about her was proved false. After all these years, their friendship was nothing in the end. She threw it all away for...for...for a _boy_. A spike of pain shot through his brain, and all breath left him. His hands clutched his head, and more pain shot through it. He sank to his knees, an invisible pressure compressing his brain. He gritted his teeth, wanting to cry out, but he couldn't. Rosabella had her back turned to him, and she was still ranting.

'Even if I _would_ love you, my father would never let a traitor touch me!'

A TRAITOR? Anger flowed through Dimentio, and the pain multiplied. He wasn't a traitor! His head rested on the floor as his mind was being compressed more and more.

A thought blasted through his mind. The dark book, in the middle of a black void. Dark energy wrapped around his mind, distorting everything. He couldn't think, he couldn't see, he couldn't breathe. Rosabella...his best friend...seemed evil in his eyes. She didn't care about him at all.

_Destiny..._the book hissed.

He was going insane. The pain was unbearable, the pressure enough to break metal, and yet it persisted, the dark book engraving evil thoughts into his head.

_She is imperfect..._Dimentio couldn't tell if it was him or the book...or both. He remembered what his face looked like, a perfect, dark blue shade. _And I...am perfect._

'No, the only one for me is my sweet, darling prince,' Rosabella continued. 'So, now that I've told you the truth, could you _please_ take me to him?' He was far too tortured to answer. 'Come on, please? I thought we were best friends!' No answer still. 'Dimentio?' she asked. She turned around and saw the jester's painful figure, crouched over on the ground, shaking. 'Dimentio!' she gasped. All thoughts of the prince left her for the moment as she saw her best friend in agony. She ran over to him. 'Dimentio!' she cried. She shook him.

Rosabella's warm hand was like an ice cold shock though Dimentio's being. He shook even more. The darkness flowed in, occupying just about all of his mind, the pressure still building. One, concrete thought blasted through his brain:

_Kill her..._

Every part of his mind welcomed the idea, except for the small part that was still him. Kill Rosabella? He couldn't! She was his best friend!

He grimaced as memories of her betraying words blasted through his thoughts. 'Dimentio!' Rose screamed. Her shouted was only soft, muffled white noise going through his ears. The darkness...all that he could carry...went into the last part of his core. Everything was so confusing and distorted, he didn't know up from down, day from night anymore. The pressure built up to a staggering level. He wanted to kill himself, take his own life. Anything..._anything_ was better than this, even death itself.

_I thought we were best friends!_ Rosabella's voice echoed.

He couldn't stand it anymore. Any second now his mind was going to—

_Snap!_ went something in his brain.

Dimentio immediately froze as all the pressure left him. Everything...everything, was so clear. Feeling the presence of the darkness wrapped around his brain, he felt so comfortable, so perfect, so enlightened. He already felt the darkness becoming nonexistent to his mind. He wouldn't even feel it soon. It was clear now: he was perfection, and Rosabella...was not. In fact, a lot of the world...no, all of it...was imperfect. Heck...every other world was too. Only he was perfect, and he knew it. He had gone through hell and back...no one should have to do that.

_Destiny..._

The Void...and the Chaos Heart...it was his destiny...to create a perfect world.

'Dimentio...?' Rosabella said.

Dimentio's mouth slowly curled into a soft, smug, and slightly insane looking smile. 'You thought we were best friends...yes...I thought that as well...'

Rosabella, for the first time, was genuinely frightened by Dimentio. 'Wh-what're you saying...?'

'Ha ha...ah...ah ha ha...' He stood up, ever so slowly. 'Yes princess, I thought we were best friends as well...but it turns out I was as wrong as can be...'

'D-Dimentio!' she gasped.

'No, you aren't my friend at all. You're just...a traitor.' He smiled, a cold smile that sent chills down Rosabella's spine. 'Just like me.' He took a step towards her. She took a step back.

'D-Dimentio...stay back!' she warned.

Dimentio chuckled. 'Why? What can you do to stop me?' He gave a wicked look. 'Princess...have you wanted to know why I wear my mask like this all the time?' She didn't answer; he was clearly out of his mind. 'Well...here's your answer.' Still smiling, he took off his mask and let it drop to the floor.

Rosabella's eyes widened. 'Y-your face!' she exclaimed.

'_Yes..._' Dimentio hissed. 'Isn't it just _perfect_?'

Rosabella was horrified. 'Wh-what did you do to it?'

'Ha. There's nothing a little dark magic can't do, you know.'

'D-dark magic?'

Dimentio's smile grew. He advanced toward her, backing her into the wall. 'A jester...' he taunted. 'A clown...a servant...' He walked closer and closer.

'Dimentio...please, stay back!' Tears were streaking down her face. She was shouting warnings and begging, desperately, for him to stop and see reason. He couldn't though. Not anymore.

'A traitor...' He went right up to her, kneeled down, and rubbed her cheek softly; she shuttered. 'I'm afraid, princess...that you've made an awful mistake...' He put his hand up, waves of dark magic issuing from it, and thrust it into her chest.

Rosabella gasped, eyes widened, as all the wind was forced from her lungs. She struggled for breath, but none came.

'For you see, princess...I am _not_ pathetic.' He closed his fingers around her heart. Rosabella quivered as she felt it. 'I _am_ something...much more than that _prince_ of yours!' He squeezed it tightly, crushing it beneath his fingers. Blood was pouring out of the hole in her chest, running down Dimentio's arm. Rosabella gave an _urk!_ Her heartbeats were dying down, her vision blurring before her eyes. Her veins convulsed, tearing, the blood in them building up, until they began to leak out of them. Rosabella was dying. She couldn't believe it...her best friend, turned into a murderer. Her vision blurred and she lost it completely. 'Yes...' Dimentio said, his smile growing. 'I am the Master of Dimensions...the Pleaser of Crowds!' Rosabella's last thought was that she was never going to see Allen again...a tear trickled down her cheek.

Rosabella's heart burst in her chest, soaking Dimentio's fist in blood. He drew it out and swept his hand across Rosabella's throat, decapitating it completely. It rolled off to the ground, blood leaking out of her neck.

Dimentio laughed hysterically, hacking at Rosabella's body with demented glee, blood spraying everywhere, all over his body. He threw it against the wall with magic, and picked up Rosabella's head. 'You see where this has left you, princess? You are but a meaningless head.' He giggled.

A cry of despair came from the door, surprising Dimentio. He turned to face it, and saw none other than King Lucius, Rosabella's father, standing at the door.

'You...you...' he sputtered.

'Oh!' Dimentio exclaimed. 'Lucius, what a surprise! The princess and I were just having a talk.'

'You...what in the world did you do to my daughter?' he screamed.

'Oh, I killed her. She's long gone by now.'

'You...you traitor!'

'Oh, _I'm_ the traitor am I? _I'm_ the traitor, for eliminating an imperfect being? No, she was the traitor. The traitor of me...and my perfect world.'

'You...you're going to pay...'

'Oh, is that so? How sad.' He smirked.

'DAMN YOU!' the king roared ferociously. 'I should have killed you when I had the chance, along with your father!'

Dimentio snickered. 'And yet you didn't. Like father, like son...'

'YOU MURDERER!' The king ran at him, advancing on him with a sword.

Dimentio snapped his fingers instinctively, and the sword flew out of his hands. 'Ah ha ha!' he laughed, sending a chill down the king's spine. 'Yes, Lucius, come join the fun!' He walked towards him, hand outstretched. 'We'll have a grand old time!'

Prince Allen walked down the silent halls of the castle, shaken to the core.

'What...what happened here...?' he breathed. He had to step over the bodies that littered the ground. Actually, they weren't bodies or corpses; they were just...pieces, bits of humans, the blood dried over top of them. He couldn't even see the grey, stone floor anymore because of all the blood. He stopped and gagged; the smell was awful. He forced himself to continue; he needed to find Rosabella. She never came to see him tonight, and it worried him; she never _didn't_ see him. She came every single night. Looking around...he knew something terrible must have happened to her. His heart gave a pang; he didn't want to admit it...but he knew she was already dead. 'Just...what the hell happened?' he screamed with anxiety, causing the three solders behind him to jump.

'My Prince!' one of them said. He put a hand on his shoulder. 'Please, you have to calm down, keep a level head!' The prince shuttered and took a deep breath. His heart was heavy in his chest, and he wanted more than anything in the world to cry...who in the world would slaughter everyone in the castle? Such an act was a crime against nature! People were cursed for it! Surely some people must have escaped...he needed to put a stop to this madness.

'...thank you Marc...' he muttered, overwhelmed with sorrow. He took off, the three soldiers following him. Running up the stairs to the throne room, his hand on his sword hilt, he was ready for absolutely anything...

...except for what awaited his eyes there.

He froze, horrified. The room was caked with blood, on the floors, walls, and ceiling. Sitting on the top of the throne was a slim man, about the age of sixteen, dressed in a purple and yellow jester outfit, covered in the red liquid he had seen so much of tonight, with a small trail around the edge of his lips. A mask rested on the top of his head...and he held the heads of his daughter and future stepfather in his hands, their wide eyes staring into space. The jester's face was a very odd, dark blue colour, and his hair was black and white, parted down the middle. He had one, bright yellow eye and one dull grey one, and was sitting there with a strange smile on his face, almost like he was in heaven...but this wasn't heaven...this was hell.

A flash of recognition hit Allen as he remembered seeing this very same jester, though masked, one year ago at the feast where he met Rosabella. 'You...' he breathed. The jester gave a soft smile, regarding the prince. 'Did you...were you the one who did all this?' he screamed.

The jester smiled. 'Did what?' He was mocking him, and the prince didn't like it.

'All this death...and...and...' he shook with anger. 'ARE YOU THE ONE WHO KILLED MY SWEETHEART?' He unsheathed his sword, ready to slay this murderer with every ounce of fury in his body. The soldiers followed suit.

False, mocking recognition passed across the jester's face. 'Oh yes, I most certainly did do that.' He chuckled, clapping his hands together and instantly killing the three guards that were with Allen, hurling them into the hard, rock walls. 'I am the one who killed my pretty little sweetheart.'

The prince stopped. This man was insane, that much was obvious, but..._his_ sweetheart? If he meant to say that, then...he had killed a woman that he loved...that was the most insane thing he had ever heard. 'What happened?' he demanded, trying to keep a good composure. He couldn't believe such a horror could even exist. This couldn't be happening...it couldn't!

'Oh, nothing of terrible interest,' he answered with a wave of his hand, as if mass homicide was boring. He hopped down from the top of the throne, still smiling that crazy smile. 'Our little, backstabbing princess went just a tad too far.' He laughed. 'And then of course, Lucius found out, and then everyone else!' He snickered. 'And now they're all dead.'

The prince gritted his teeth in rage. 'You're nothing but a monster!' he yelled. 'Why in the world did you do this? Just because she didn't love you? You were her best friend, she said so herself!'

Dimentio kept quiet, eyeing the prince. He was thoroughly unimpressed by his display, because he knew he was right, without question. He sighed; he was already bored with him. Was he jealous, angry at him? No, he couldn't be, not really. He did nothing wrong. It was all Rosabella's fault...the one who refused to love him, to accept him, all because he was nothing but a jester, the son of a traitor. Underneath all the smiles, he wasn't happy. He didn't understand...he wasn't loved, simply because of what he was. It was unfair...it was wrong. He couldn't live in a world like that...no one should have to. Everyone deserved better than this. He smiled, suddenly feeling giddy; he had the book on his side. He was going to create a better world. No...not a better world. A _perfect_ world.

'What right do you have to take away peoples' lives?' the prince yelled at him. Dimentio gave a small grin, walking towards him. 'Who do you think you are, you stupid jes—'

Dimentio lunged at him, his hand thrusting through the prince's chest in the same manner as his love had had done before him. As Dimentio crushed the prince's heart in his hand, he laughed.' Ah ha ha ha!' He was ecstatic. 'Who am I?' He squeezed harder, and the prince grimaced in pain. 'I am the Master of Dimensions, the Pleaser of Crowds...I am Dimentio...the Charming Magician.' His grin widened. 'For your pleasure of course! Ah ha ha ha ha!' The prince's eyes slowly closed, the last of his life ebbing away. 'Goodbye, Prince Allen...' Dimentio whispered. _'Ciao...'_


	15. Chapter 15: Partition

Chapter 15: Partition ~Final Chapter~

Dimentio

The black smoke enshrouding the captives cleared, and their movements ceased. They coughed and opened their eyes. Fawful sputtered and spat, shaking.

Dimentio chuckled. 'How was story time?' he asked them mockingly. No one answered. 'Speechless? I don't doubt it.' He turned away. 'I've improved much over the years.'

'_Improved?_' Mimi exclaimed with disgust. 'You were great back then!'

'Pah!' the jester spat. 'Back then I was a pathetic, love-driven _human_. Now...now I am Dimentio, the Charming Magician!' He bowed.

'Well, you got what you deserved!' Mimi shot. 'Your face is revolting.'

Dimentio tensed in mid-bow. He straightened up, staring right at Mimi. 'I aim to change that very soon...' he breathed with controlled fury. 'Just as I shall wipe all worlds off the face of existence!'

'And how do you plan to do that?' Blumiere asked.

Dimentio's mouth curled into a sly grin. He stuck out his arm and pulled up his cuff. 'Nothing up my sleeve...' He spun his hand and the Dark Prognosticus appeared in it. 'Voila! It's magic!'

Everyone's eyes widened, aside from Fawful's, which were full of hopelessness. 'The Dark Prognosticus?!' Blumiere gasped.

'Yes!' Dimentio cried. 'The Dark Prognosticus! The ancient prophecy of the Tribe of Darkness!' He teetered on the spot. 'And my greatest achievement. I am quite the author, wouldn't you agree?' He laughed.

Mario jerked in his chair. 'You're not getting away with this!' he yelled.

'Oh my, how cliché,' the jester mocked. 'I am afraid that, yes, I am most certainly going to get away with this.' He opened the book to the middle of the spine. 'Starting with the most pressing matter.' He ran his finger down the centre of it, dark magic flowing from the tip. 'As the author of this dark prophecy...' Dimentio cited with excitement. 'I hereby...break the seal!'

A whirlwind of dark energy blasted out of the book, filling the entire room and pressing the captives against the back of their chairs. Dimentio's jester costume whipped in the wind, his mask cracking with the force. His hate flew right off his head, his black and white hair being assaulted by the strength of the energy. He had an extremely insane smile on his face, eyes widened. 'After all this waiting...it's finally broken...' he whispered to himself. ' He tightened his grip on the book. 'FINALLY! COME FORTH INTO THE WORLD ONCE MORE!' One more pulse of energy and a great beam of dark light (if you could call it light) burst from the book, colliding with the ground below with a huge explosion. The captives shut their eyes as they felt the force of it. When it all cleared, a person was kneeling on the floor.

He was fairly tall, and fairly muscular, his black hair sleek on his head. Two yellow eyes glowed in his sockets in contrast to the black everything of Castle Black. He sat there, panting and sweating. Not to mention...he was completely naked. No hair was on his body whatsoever.

'EW!' Mimi shrieked, and shut her eyes once more.

'Ah, whoops!' Dimentio chuckled. He snapped his fingers and the same, regal clothes he had worn to the Mushroom Kingdom's Halloween party appeared on the exposed figure kneeling on the floor. He stood up slowly, testing out his joints.

'It's been a while since I've been in the form of the living...' he muttered to himself. 'How awkward...'

'Greetings from the otherworld!' Dimentio called.

The figure turned, and gave him a small scowl. 'Hello. It certainly has been a very long time...Dimentio.' Blumiere struggled against his bonds, teeth clenched. They turned. The figure gave a look of surprise and recognition. 'Blumiere!' he said. 'How long has it been?'

'Not long enough,' the prince growled.

'Oh, I disagree.' He smirked at him. 'Blumiere...I've waited one thousand, five-hundred years for this moment. You're completely helpless, locked in chains. Ha ha ha!' He laughed coldly. 'How sweet vengeance is! Come now, why don't you greet me! We're flesh and blood, after all!'

'I will _never_ acknowledge you as my father!' he spat.

'Hah! Dead to my own son.'

'A_hem_!'

He turned to face the jester. 'And then there's you...'

'Yes, and then there's me. So nice to see you again...' He narrowed his eyes, smirking, and said, in a barely audible whisper: '...my father.'

Everyone went quiet. Blumiere choked on whatever he was about to say. Timpani's face went pale. 'Your...your f-father...?' Blumiere sputtered.

'Ah yes, my father! Say hello to Ganter, my dear half-brother!'

'G-Ganter...but...your name is Esteban...' the shaken prince muttered.

'Ah, I remember that alias,' Ganter said. 'After my body changed, as you can see, I found it fitting to change my name as well. Esteban really fit, in my opinion. Means "crown" in some language somewhere.'

'HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!' Blumiere roared, unable to believe any of this.

'Ah, what a tale to tell!' Dimentio said.

_Dimentio walked down the steps to the dungeons, a spring in his step, the dark book he had written held in his hand, blood coating his costume. His mask was on his face now, and he was giggling to himself. He went down into the prison cells, which contained a few very unlucky people. He went right to the end, where a very old looking man, his dark beard ragged and unshaven, his clothes nothing but rags, sat in a corner._

_'My, my,' the jester said. 'What an unpleasant sight.'_

_The old man shifted. 'Who are you...?' he muttered._

_'Come and see.'_

_The man shuffled forward. Dimentio walked up in front of the metal bars, a grin on his masked face. 'I have never seen you in my life...' the man said._

_'Oh, I think you're very wrong about that.' He chuckled. 'I must say Ganter, you really have changed.' The man's eyes widened at the mention of his name. Dimentio turned and took a few steps away from the bars, taking the mask off of his face. 'The last time I saw you, you were healthy...and quite angry, if I recall._

_'Who are you?' Ganter asked._

_'You disappoint me. I would have thought you would recognize your own flesh and blood.'_

_A sharp intake of break from Ganter gave the jester the confirmation he needed. 'Dimentio...?'_

_Dimentio spun around and pressed his face against the bars, his hands gripping them, an insane smile on his face. 'Yes! Say hello to your son, father!'_

_'What have you done to your face?!' he exclaimed._

_'Everything dark magic can do, father,' his son answered. Ganter shivered. 'Yes, I have dwelled deeper into magic than you could ever hope to. Elemental magic! Dimensional magic! Dark magic! So many different kinds. Don't I look..._perfect_?'_

_'Why are you here?' Ganter huffed._

_'Why, for you of course!' He waved the book in front of his face. 'See this? The source of my dark magic supply. It needs a vessel.'_

_'A what?'_

_'A vessel. Someone to seal it's power. To make the prophecy come true. If you agree...then I shall make you the vessel.'_

_Ganter was intrigued. 'What does it involve?'_

_'Well...I split your soul in half, and put one half in here. The other remains in your body.'_

_'You...' Ganter was horrified. 'You split apart my _soul_?!'_

_'Yes. There are benefits, however. Firstly, you cannot fully die. If you die, then all of your consciousness is transferred into the other half of your soul. You may be released, but only by the person who sealed you. That would be me. Until either this book is destroyed, or you are resurrected and then you are killed again, you will not die. Also...because your soul is part of this book, you will be given dark magic to use at your command. You will look like me, in time.'_

_Ganter weighed his options; for one, he had a new, more powerful form of magic he could use. He would have dark blue skin...odd, but not exactly bad. He would never die. Not to mention Dimentio would break him out of the prison cell. 'Very well, I shall be the vessel.' _

_'Perfect!' the jester exclaimed. He snapped his fingers and the cell bars were blasted off of their places, crashing in heaps. His father had weaved to avoid them._

_Ganter lumbered out. 'You've changed, Dimentio.'_

_'Yes, yes I have.' He stretched. 'And all for the better as well. I was such a weak little child before today.'_

_Ganter stretched as well. 'I heard something going on upstairs.'_

_'Ah, right, that was the painful and bloody massacre of the entire castle, caused by yours truly.'_

_Ganter's leg support weakened. 'You...you killed them all?!' He was utterly shocked; never would he have possibly imagined that his son could do such a thing._

_'Oh yes. Every. Single. One.' He laughed._

_Ganter took a step back. 'You're insane!' he exclaimed._

_'Ah, I'm afraid you're wrong. The whole world is who's insane. All the worlds! I'm the only sane one, striving for the perfect world.' He turned to his father. 'And you will join me. All it takes is one pledge, one commitment, to this book.'_

_Ganter swallowed. 'Very well...' He clenched his fists. 'I hereby declare that I, Ganter, shall be the vessel for this book of darkness, for now, and for all eternity, until the seal is broken.' He held his breath. Dimentio held his._

_Nothing happened._

_'Hm,' Dimentio muttered. 'Odd.'_

_'Why did nothing happen?' Ganter demanded._

_'Hmmm...' Dimentio felt something from the book...a desire. He held it out. 'It wants to speak with you.'_

_Ganter was surprised. 'To speak with me?'_

_'Yes.' He held it out further. 'Hold this.'_

_Ganter hesitated for a moment, then took the book from Dimentio's hands...and screamed as a whirlwind of thoughts, emotions, sounds, and images assaulted his mind._

'Ever since that day, my fine father has rested in the Dark Prognosticus. When you erased that dimension, Blumiere, you only killed half of him. The other half still lived.'

'Heh,' Ganter snickered. 'And to think that I lived long enough. So much time in captivity...it's a wonder I didn't take my own life, like my sons. How weak they were...'

'What a choice you made. If you had refused, I would have left you there to die...or killed you myself. But no, you were the king of the Tribe of Darkness! One of the advantages of being on my side.' He stared hard at his father. 'And now, we have a most pressing matter to address!' He snapped his fingers and Ganter appeared near him, suspended in mid-air. He flailed his limbs, unaccustomed to flight.

'Wargh!' he yelled, then steadied. 'Wha...what matter?'

Dimentio smiled coolly. 'The matter of my curse.'

Ganter wasn't following. 'Curse?'

Dimentio gripped his mask, took it off, and let it fall to the floor.

Everyone's blood went cold.

'By night...I don a human's face,' he said. 'By day, a horrible distortion of my own, perfect image...' He looked at them all, and they all looked at him, terrified. 'But! In Castle Bleck, in the centre of the Void, where day and night do not exist, I am THIS!'

His face was two things at once. The right side was his pale, human face. The left side was the dark blue, disfigured monstrosity that he was during the day. In the middle of his face, in a vertical line, the two sides were shifting, converging, changing, as if both sides were fighting each other for complete domination of Dimentio's visage. 'See what I've become?!' he demanded, turning back to face a very disturbed Ganter. 'Do you see what comes of those who murder in our home world?! A dreadful curse, meaning either dead, injury, or something else to the person. The only way to break the curse...' His eyes bore into Ganter's. 'You must perform the Ritual of Exoneration!'

'You...you want me to do that?'

'But of course. You don't think I would _continue_ to live like this, do you?' He snapped his fingers and Ganter was standing on a dimensional platform. It moved towards the jester. He snapped his fingers again and a very sharp knife appeared in his hand and pulled up his sleeve, taking off his glove, exposing his left, dark blue wrist. His fingers were more like claws you would expect on a demon from the Underwhere, the nails a dark shade of white and sharpened to points. 'You know what to do.'

He tossed to knife to his father, who caught the handle. He looked at the knife nervously. 'You need to want to do this, Dimentio,' he said.

'Ah, but you _do_ want to! Because if you don't, you won't be king, as you used to be. Not to mention, you will die.'

Ganter swallowed; he was right. He pulled up his own sleeve and drew the blade across his skin, cutting open the surface. He winced with the pain, and handed the knife to Dimentio. Dimentio did as his father did, though showed absolutely no reaction to the pain, laughing silently as he thought of what was going to happen. Ganter put the cut over Dimentio's and squeezed it, a few drops of a very thick, black substance dripping into Dimentio's open wound; the blood of the Tribe of Darkness. The jester moved his other hand over his cut, sealing it with dark magic, repeating the action on Ganter's.

'I Ganter, the father of Dimentio, state by this double offering of blood that Dimentio be freed from his burden, and be forgiven for his crimes.'

'I, Dimentio, son of Ganter, accept this forgiveness, and ask to be freed from my burden.'

'By our blood offerings, let exoneration shine upon the cursed!' they both recited at once.

They stopped, the Ritual complete, and waited.

A painful twinge went through Dimentio's heart and he gave a lurch. '_Urk!_' he grunted, and sank to his knees, clutching his chest. Everyone held their breath, some hoping that the ritual would cause his death, others hoping the curse would be negated. He shook, sweating, eyes squinted shut. His hands gripped the pillar's top, and he smashed his head into it. He screamed in extreme agony, pain blasting through every fibre of his being. He felt his features changing, shifting, bubbling. He shuttered, and collapsed on the pillar, not moving. Everyone looked. Ganter jumped onto another pillar, just in case something dangerous happened.

With the pain gone, Dimentio pulled himself to his feet. He looked at his hand and arm; both were dark blue, but they were human-like, as opposed to demonic. He looked in the reflection on the sleek, black floor; his face was back to the way it had been all those years ago, when he had looked in the mirror and seen the change in his face, wearing his mask to hide it.

'The curse...' he whispered. 'It's gone...' He looked up. 'Ah ha ha! What a wonderful day it is!' He looked upon them all. 'Gaze upon the face of perfection as your games end, Heroes! And Fawful as well.' He made to wave his hands.

'Wait!' Blumiere shouted.

Dimentio glared at him. 'What?'

Blumiere smirked. 'You know, I'm also of the Tribe of Darkness,' he reminded him.

'Yes, and?'

'By blood, I naturally have access to dark magic. Not a lot...but certainly enough to cancel out yours!'

The chair he was in dissolved into nothing, and the chains that bound him snapped and disappeared. His sceptre flipped into his hand, and he gripped it tightly, his multicoloured cape flowing from the release of energy. 'NO!' Dimentio yelled. He hadn't even begun to consider that Blumiere could use dark magic without the Prognosticus, and now that he was free, everything was in jeopardy. Blumiere passed over each of the Heroes setting them free. He stopped at Fawful, hesitated for a moment, then set him free as well. The Bean boy got up and snarled at him.

'I was not needing the help from the one who is you!' he shouted.

'Yes you're very welcome,' the dark prince said sarcastically. He left him.

The Heroes all stared up at the two villains. 'Ah ha ha. What a surprising twist. Interesting manoeuvre, Blumiere.'

'Enough of this prattle!' Ganter exclaimed. 'Blumiere, because of your betrayal, I shall send you to your grave!'

Blumiere waved his sceptre. 'Well... Esteban...or should I call you Ganter? Whatever the case, I'll finish the job I started years ago as Count Bleck!' A moment of mental pain passed through Blumiere at the memory of Bleck, but it passed quickly.

'Come on guys, we're going to finish Dimentio once and for all!' Mario proclaimed.

An explosion threw them off. Fawful ran right in front of them all and faced Dimentio, his massive teeth in the biggest snarl anyone had ever seen. 'Dimentio!' he screamed, furious. He pointed a tiny finger his way, his tracker glinting in the light of the strange torches. 'You will pay for the betrayal of the one who is me! Fawful will send his anger for the mustaches and the Bowser at you! YOU WILL BE BEATEN LIKE A NAUGHTY EGG!'

'Ah ha ha! Oh Fawful, why bother trying to compare to me? You can't win.' He snapped his fingers and the tracker on his wrist broke to pieces.

'Pah!' Fawful spat as his own tracker gave a loud beeping sound. 'You are having much wrongness!' He pressed a button on his tracker, and a machine flew into the room and onto his head.

It was made of very sturdy and strong metal. The main part that rested on Fawful's cranium was a clear, glass sphere, with a metal top and bottom. The bottom had comfortable padding in it to allow Fawful no discomfort, and the top had a grey, flexible tube sticking out of it, the other end connected to what head essentially a metal mouth the upper "lip" red, the lower one yellow, with sparkling, white teeth inside it, which looked very sharp. On the upper lip was two white "eyes." Connected to the sides of the bottom of the sphere were red rods, made of some kind of retractable metal substance, with a silver rocket head on the end of each. The helmet snapped it's jaw, blinking now and then.

'I HAVE HEADGEAR!' Fawful screamed at the top of his lungs. 'And now I will have the exterminating of the jester of stupid!'

Ganter hopped off the pillar, facing his son, and an extravagant sceptre, not unlike the one Blumiere had, appeared in his hand. Blumiere stared back at him. 'En garde, my worthless son.' He pointed the sceptre at him, the black jewel glinting dangerously.

Blumiere pointed his own sceptre at him. 'En guard, my dead father.'

Dimentio faced Fawful, floating down to the ground. 'Very well, my little Beanish friend,' he said. 'It is time to finally see which of us is the more capable villain.' Sparks of magic danced from his fingertips. Fawful's Headgear snapped it's jaws. 'And now we must duel, like two shining knights jousting on armoured horses!'

*Smiles*

Fawful immediately fired an energy ball from his Headgear, and Dimentio shot a block of magic in response, the two exploding in midair. The jester warped behind Fawful, who's Headgear immediately spun around and caught him by the throat in its strong jaws. Fawful turned around to face Dimentio.

'Feel the fury of the Headgear Mk. III!' he shouted in the jester's, dark blue face.

Dimentio was still grinning. 'I...don't...think so...' he gasped, snapping his fingers. Fawful was thrown several feet backwards, the Headgear losing its grip. Dimentio brushed himself off and teleported in front of the Beanish boy. 'Hello!' he exclaimed, warping out of the energy ball's path, behind Fawful. 'Oh dear, what awful aim.' The helmet's head spun around and tried to smash itself into the jester's, but he warped away from that too.

'Grr...' Fawful gritted his massive, white teeth. 'I have much annoyance...' The rockets on his Headgear started, and he was suspended in the air. 'Dimentio! Come and fight Fawful with fairness!'

Dimentio warped several feet in front of him. 'Ah ha ha! Do you really think your machines can stand up to...magic?!' He warped away, and four more of him appeared.

'Fawful has much certainty,' the boy answered. 'Headgear...ATTACK!'

He rose up and the head of his helmet spun around, firing energy orbs galore, exploding into the walls, smoke billowing everywhere. All the jesters, imitations or not, dodged all the shots. 'Like I said before,' they all mocked. 'Awful aim. Awful Fawful. Ah ha ha!'

Contrary to Dimentio's expectations, Fawful gave an insane laugh of his own. 'HAHAHAHA!' The Headgear slipped off of his head, and floated on its own. Fawful pulled out a blaster and his platform warped in. He jumped on it.

'How many of those do you have anyway?' Dimentio snorted.

'Many,' answered Fawful simply. 'Now...have preparations...for THIS!'

Blumiere slashed weapons with his father, who was grinning. 'I've been waiting years to have my vengeance on you,' he jeered.

'I don't think that will happen anytime soon, Esteban,' his son challenged.

'For the last time...it's GANTER!' He shoved Blumiere back and continued attacking with his sceptre, which Blumiere countered with his own.

'I'll, call, you, anything, I, want, you, spawn, of, Jaydes!' he yelled, timing his words with each block. Thinking about it, he thought Jaydes might be offended by such a remark. 'No offense to the Queen of Death, of course.' Ganter stuck out his hand and blasted Blumiere off of his feet with a blast of dark energy. He crashed painfully on his back. He stood up slowly.

Ganter rose up into the air, feet dangling, looking very awkward. 'Come and fight, my son!' he challenged.

The prince took to the air too, looking far more comfortable than his father. 'Tch,' he chuckled. 'Is the air not your forte?'

'Shut up,' Ganter snapped, and shot off towards him. The two beings of darkness struck with their sceptres, sparks flying. Blumiere stuck his hand in the other's face, a dark blast blowing up in it. He touched ground in pursuit of his father, dashing at him with red energy blocks around him, smashing right into him.

'Bleh heh—!' he stopped, slapping a hand to his forehead.

'Old habits die hard, _Count Bleck_?'

Blumiere put his hand down slowly, his yellow eyes glaring menacingly at the man he used to call father. So menacingly, in fact, that Ganter took a step backwards. 'I...' he whispered, his voice a quiet, murderous calm. 'Am not him...anymore!' An explosion of darkness threw Ganter against the black wall, sinking to the ground, sceptre out of his grasp. He struggled to his feet. 'NEVER make the mistake of calling me _that_!' Blumiere roared, gripping the former king by his collar. 'I am Lord Blumiere! Nothing more, nothing less!'

Ganter did the simply approach to freedom and punched him in the face, the both of them falling to the floor. He got up and grabbed his sceptre, holding it defensively. 'It's not over yet, Bleck.'

Blumiere glared. 'You've crossed the line now,' his voice shaking with anger.

His father smirked. 'Come and try me.'

Fawful zoomed about on his platform, firing shots from his blaster, while his Headgear acted on its own, with its improved AI, firing energy balls. Dimentio ducked, weaved, and countered with blocks of magic, laughing all the while. 'And here I thought you had something challenging!' he taunted.

Fawful grinned, sending his platform right at Dimentio. He warped away and Fawful jumped right off, the Headgear clasping back onto his head. He turned the platform around remotely, and fired a bunch of shots. When Dimentio reappeared, he dodged the shots, but the platform ran right into him. Fawful flew around and plucked Dimentio off (with much difficulty, given his lack of strength) and dropped him, the Headgear jets reversing and sending him down on the jester's stomach, knocking the wind right out of him, though he never lost his smile. He stood up, clutching his stomach, gasping and wheezing, laughing all the while. 'Okay...' he breathed. 'I must admit...that was quite something.'

'I HAVE FURY!' Fawful screamed. 'Your defeat has certainty, like the tastiness of chocolate cereal!' Fawful looked thoughtful. 'Now that Fawful is thinking, he has not had chocolate cereal in a time of longness.' He licked his lips. 'Fawful will get some chocolate cereal when he is done conquering the world.' His Headgear gnashed it's teeth and Fawful grinned. 'And that will start with the destroying of you!'

'You have...a lot of drive!' Ganter gasped. He was slowing, he was tired...and Blumiere was not.

'I'm also faster, stronger, and younger than you are,' Blumiere mocked.

'And you'll also be dead very soon.' Ganter kicked his son in the shin, spun around and smashed the sceptre out of his hand, bringing his own to Blumiere's throat. 'Any last words?'

Blumiere looked up at his father, emotionless. 'You fight dirty.'

Ganter grinned. 'I know.' He pressed the jewel harder up against him, and he fought back a cough. A few drops of thick, black blood dripped from his neck...one of the drops freezing in midair, then vanishing.

'I do...have one thing to say,' Blumiere said.

'Yes?'

'There's a short, crazy Beanish boy heading straight for you.'

'What?'

Fawful, flying backwards in an attempt to further attack Dimentio, smashed right into the back of Ganter, the sceptre flying out from under Blumiere. He grabbed it and broke it over his knee, picking his own off the ground. He rubbed his throat, thick, black liquid smearing on his fingers. He frowned; he let his guard down. He looked up at the groaning figure that was Ganter. He walked up to him. 'You lose, _father_.'

'Not as badly as you might think,' he replied.

Dimentio tapped Blumiere's shoulder. He turned around and Dimentio brought his fist across the side of his face, empowered by magic. Blumiere was hurled to the ground, blood spraying slightly from his neck. All the blood froze, and everyone stared at it. Dimentio waved his hand, and the blood collected above his open palm. 'The blood of the Tribe of Darkness...of my half-brother...' he muttered. He took out the knife again and slid it across his wrist. 'Of me...' He walked over to his father.

'Dimentio?!' he exclaimed. 'What is the meaning of this?'

Dimentio smiled, and chills went down Ganter's spine. 'The blood of me, my half-brother...' He grabbed his father's shoulder and shoved the knife into his heart. Ganter gasped and sank to his knees. 'And the blood of my father.'

'D-Dimentio...' he groaned. 'We were...allies...we were...family...'

'Oh shut up. You treated me like a dog! And allies? Pah! You would have stabbed me in the back at the most opportune moment!' He grinned. 'Though I suppose that's where _I_ get it from.' He twisted the knife, taking delight in his father's pain. 'For all the abuse...for all the pain...for all the hatred...and even in the very end...I still loved you.' He jerked it hard to the side. 'What a fool I was.' He pulled the knife out, the black blood joining with his and Blumiere's. 'But now...I shall no longer be such a fool. Ah ha ha.' His father's eyes were clouding. 'Jaydes should have a spot for you in the Underwhere, don't you think?'

'I...hate you...' he moaned.

Dimentio's grin widened and the knife disappeared. 'I know Ganter, I know. Ciao.'

Ganter moved a little in protest...and was still.

Everyone was quiet for what seemed like the millionth time in a few moments. He turned the them all, the Heroes all finally stepping forward. 'You killed my father...' Blumiere said, shocked.

Dimentio smiled. 'You're welcome.'

Mario punched the air. 'Alright guys, let's-a go!'

'Enough,' Dimentio commanded calmly. 'You're all misguided.' The Dark Prognosticus appeared in his hands, and he opened it to the middle. The black blood hung over it. 'You know Fawful, I really must thank you.'

Fawful was surprised. 'Thanking me? Why?'

'You gave me quite an idea. My original plan was simply to conquer all dimensions the old fashioned way...but then you told me something of much importance: the Prognosticus' link to the Void and the Chaos Heart.' He was still ignorant. 'I thought the Chaos Heart was gone for good...and I know the Void still exists, there was just nothing to drive it into the other worlds. BUT! You told me you saw the two things in your visions the book gave you, and that made me think; perhaps they are still linked!' He looked at the ball of black liquid. 'The blood of its author, and the only two remaining relatives...I believe it would be a good enough sacrifice, don't you?'

Everyone finally got what he was talking about. 'EVERYONE!' Mario yelled. 'GET HIM NOW!'

'Too late!' Dimentio shouted, and the blood plunged into the book.

The resulting shockwave through all the Heroes, former minions, Fawful, _and_ Dimentio up into the air, falling to the floor with many thuds. Dimentio rose up, taking in the view as a large, black heart rose out of the Prognosticus; the Chaos Heart. 'Ah ha ha!' Dimentio laughed. 'The Chaos Heart is mine! And now...it is time to make me truly perfect!' The Heart rose above him.

'Dimentio!' Mimi called. 'Don't do anything stupid!'

'Ah ha ha! "Stupid?" I don't think so. Love is useless.'

'What are you talking about?'

'Ah ha ha. I will do the one thing I've been yearning to do: eliminate love from my body. The dark energy will be able to put up a wall around the emotion...and I will no longer feel it.'

'THAT'S CRAZY!' Mimi protested.

'I've been called that many times, girl, and it hasn't fazed me. Now...' He looked up. 'Chaos Heart...make me HEARTLESS!'

The black object descended into the jester, numbing him to the core. He felt nothing. Then all of a sudden, an enormous pain took over. He screamed, the pain unlike anything he had ever felt.

'DIMENTIO!' Mimi screamed. After all this, she still loved him, and believed there was good in him, and he was just going to block it out.

He looked at her, straight in the eyes, and his heart swelled with love, combating against the darkness. It wasn't enough, however; the Chaos Heart's power pushed against it, setting up a wall. Dimentio's pain intensified, and he screamed even louder. Everything numbed again and all his senses stopped. He just hung there, emotionless. Then everything came back, and he sank to the ground.

He didn't move, he just felt. He...felt no different. It was exactly the same as before. He looked up at Mimi...something was wrong. He saw her, but...something was missing.

That was it! He didn't _feel_ anything! He looked at her, and just saw her as a person! There was no love! He closed his eyes and thought of Rosabella...nothing. The same applied. He stood up...it felt so odd, so different, so...

His entire body was shaking, his eyes were wide, his mouth open in shock. 'I...I...' He had no words. 'It's...gone...all the feelings...all the love...is gone...'

Slowly but surely, Dimentio's mouth curved into a one-sided grin.

'Haha...haha...ahaha...ahha...' He threw his head back. 'AAH, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!' he cackled insanely. 'AHAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHA!' Everyone was shocked, horrified; even Fawful, who was a villain himself, had never heard anything so...scary. 'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!' He jumped up in the air, sparks of magic flying everywhere. 'I'm FREE!' he screamed, staring straight at Mimi. 'I can look at you...I can think of her, and NOTHING! No love, no feelings! I'm free! Ahahahahahahaha!' His eyes bore into hers. 'And now I'm going to do the thing I should have done ages ago!' He flew directly at Mimi, cackling wildly. 'CIAO, MIMI!' Mimi shrieked and covered her face in knee-jerk defence, and yelled out in pain as she hit the floor of the castle painfully, rolling, both hearing and feeling a magical blast. She shook and opened her eyes; Dimentio had Fawful gripped by the throat, and he looked near death. He had taken the attack for her. His glasses were cracked, one lens had fallen right out, and he was already covered in bruises.

'M-Mimi...' he choked. 'Make...with the...escaping...quick!'

'You little Beanish _brat_,' Dimentio snarled, though the effect was different on a smiling face. 'You've been a thorn in my side for far too long.' He put his hand back. 'Ciao!'

A sharp, red Rubee collided with Dimentio's head, and he let go of Fawful. 'You better let him go right now!' Mimi demanded.

'And what are you going to do about it?' he mocked.

Mimi smirked and tilted her head sharply to one side, a sickening _crack_ issuing from it. It spun around a few times, resting upside down. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened in a grin, her green head expanding. Six long spider legs burst out of her head, chunks of her hair stuck on them. Her body, now limp, hanging off of her shoulders to one side, was lifted off of the ground. 'MIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIMI!' she laughed, a cold, distorted, monstrous version of her usual, childlike voice.

Fawful nearly had a heart attack, jumping up and running as far away as possible from the huge thing, and hid behind Mario, to his extreme shame. 'Wh-WHAT IS THAT?!' he screeched.

'Mimi,' Mario answered simply. 'True Mimi.'

'I have fright!' he exclaimed. 'I had ignorance!'

'So did we, at first,' Mario replied.

'Everyone!' Mimi called. 'Let's take this creep!' Everyone, save Fawful, jumped to her side.

'Very well,' Dimentio sighed. 'Your funeral.' They all jumped into a brawl.

Fawful was simply an onlooker; the Mario Bros. jumped and dodged, Peach did the same, Bowser punched, clawed, and breathed fire. Blumiere attacked with his sceptre, Mimi shot Rubees, O'Chunks punched and stomped, and Nastasia...well, she really did nothing, though she _tried _ to punch and kick. Physical fighting wasn't her forte; hers was in brainwashing. Fawful's eyes travelled to something else; the Chaos Heart, now out of the jester's body, hung in midair, spinning slowly. He pressed a button and his Headgear, though mildly damaged, rested on his head again. He flew silently over to the Heart, and looked at it. It was just a black heart, though he could feel the energy. It surpassed even the Dark Star, and that had been raw evil itself. He outstretched his hands; if only he could just use it...

He shook his head. He wasn't going to meddle in dark objects, not anymore, not after the Underwhere that was the Dark Star.

'You!' someone barked. 'Get away from that!' Blumiere jumped and knocked him away, much to Fawful's pain.

Dimentio turned, suffering a blow to the head, and saw Blumiere near the Heart. He flew over towards him. 'That Chaos Heart is MINE!' he yelled.

Blumiere didn't even think. He just brought his sceptre up, and brought it down on the Chaos Heart.

Another shockwave of dark energy was released as the Chaos Heart split into two halves, shifting unstably. Lightning crackled, the dimension shook.

'You...' Dimentio said, gaping. 'WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!'

A stronger shockwave went through everything as the one of the halves shot at Dimentio, smacking into his chest and throwing him, becoming one with him. He hit the ground and stood up, dazed. The other half shot towards the only other person with enough dark energy for it to really sense.

Fawful blacked out the moment it hit him.

Dimentio

A freezing, yet burning sensation was taking place inside his heart, and he clutched at it. 'The C-Chaos Heart...' he gasped. What had happened? A powerful, dark object, simply broken in half by a sceptre?! It couldn't—he gasped again as his heart beat, and he knew the Chaos Heart was inside him. But the other...he looked at Fawful. The other carrier of the Heart was Fawful; how unlikely. 'Well...no matter. I am still the true owner of the Chaos Heart, and that is how it shall stay!' He grinned, calling on his half of the Heart, which glowed black in his chest. 'One half of the Heart...' He looked at Fawful again. 'And Fawful's unconscious. What a stroke of luck!' He snapped his fingers and Fawful's half glowed in the Bean boy's chest. He snapped again and Fawful's body gave an involuntary jerk, then rose into the air. Dimentio rose up as well. 'HEROES!' he shouted at the figures picking themselves off the ground, Fawful speaking at the same time, his voice empty and soulless, his teeth arced in a large, toothy grin, his eyes staring out at them all, his head lolling to the side like a possessed doll. 'Your days are numbered!' The Chaos Heart has been created! And now...all shall end! Ah ha ha!' He saw Blumiere glaring at him as he remembered saying those very same words. Dimentio flung his hands up into the air, smiling widely. 'Open your mouth, darkness!' he cited loudly. 'Consume everything and destroy all worlds, as told in the prophecy! Ahahahahaha!'

He felt a massive surge of power fill his body. Sparks...no, _flames_ of magical energy, fuelled by the Heart's power, burned from his hands. He swung them, seeing the black fire light up the air. He clenched his fists, looking at Fawful. 'Now...' He stuck out his hand. 'RELEASE!'

Fawful's body was engulfed in the energy, and Dimentio himself was almost overwhelmed. He yelled with glee as he felt the dark energy blast out, seeing the other half doing the same, spreading out the far reaches of the Void. Tremors shook the dimension. Walls cracked, torches blew out, pillars felt over, chunks of the ceiling fell. All the Heroes were running for their lives.

'MAMMA MIA!' Luigi screamed at the top of his lungs, running around wildly.

'Fools...' Dimentio said, the flames still alight. 'There's no escaping.' One more blast caused him to stop all movements as the Void was finally torn in the dimensional fabric. He shook his head. 'And so it begins, the end of all worlds!' Fawful's limp form crashed to the floor with a thud.

'Everyone!' Mario shouted through all the noise and commotion. Everything was being destroyed, and the Void was back. Could things get any worse? 'Come here!' Everyone, all the Heroes, all of Bleck's former minions, ran over. Mario took out his Return Pipe, holding it aloft. 'Now, take us back to—' He stopped.

'Mario?!' Bowser growled. 'What are you waiting for?!' Mario's eyes settled on Fawful. Bowser looked and groaned. 'We aren't leaving without him are we?' Mario shook his head. Bowser immediately ran over, picked up Fawful, and ran back.

Mario smiled. 'Thanks Bowser.'

'Don't mention it.' Bowser grumbled. 'Really, don't.'

Mario held his Return Pipe aloft again. 'Okay, take us to Flipside!'

Dimentio stared, and saw Mimi look in his direction, tears filling her eyes. He just smiled, feeling no reaction to the sight. 'Ciao,' he whispered. They all spun around and disappeared in a great light.

Dimentio was walking. Everything was quiet and still. The only things he heard were the sounds of his footsteps on the floor, his own breathing...and the harsh beating of his heart. His new heart...

Half of the Chaos Heart rested in his body. The second half was with Fawful. It mattered not, however; the Void would still destroy, and even if Fawful still had his half in the end, and he survived, Dimentio could just kill him anyway.

'Soon...' he breathed. 'So very soon...I shall be king...' He stopped, one of the three things he could hear coming to a halt. 'No...not a king...' He laughed quietly, bending down and picked up his mask, putting it snugly on his face. He was quite attached to it now. 'A _God_...the God of my perfect world...ah ha ha...'

**The End...**

_Next: __A Broken Heart_


End file.
